c/' 


WORKS  BY  MARQUIS  DE  NADAILLAC. 

Prehistoric  America.      ]]y  the  Marquis  de  Nadaillac.     Translated, 
with  the  permission  of  tlic  Author,  by  Nancy  Bell  (N.  D'Anvers), 
author  of  "  History  of  Art."     Edited,  with  notes,  by  W.  H. 
Dall.     Popular  edition  .         .         .         .         .         .$225 

Chiek  Contents. — Man  and  the  Mastodon — The  Kjokken- 
moddings  and  Cave  Relics  —  Mound-Builders  —  I'ottery  — 
Weapons  and  Ornaments  of  the  Mound-Builders — Cliff-Dwellers 
and  Inhabitants  of  tiie  Pueblos — People  of  Central  America — 
Central  American  Ruins — Peru — Early  Races — Origin  of  the 
American  Aborigines,  etc.,  etc. 

"  The  best  book  on  this  .subject  that  has  yet  been  published,  .  .  .  for  the 
reason  that,  as  a  record  of  facts,  it  is  unusually  full,  and  bcc.uise  it  is  the  first 
comprehensive  work  in  which,  discarding  all  the  old  and  worn-out  nostrums  about 
the  existence  on  this  continent  of  an  extinct  civilization,  we  are  brought  face  to 
face  with  conclusions  that  are  based  upon  a  careful  comparison  of  architectural 
and  other  prehistoric  remains  wiih  the  arts  and  industries,  the  manners  and  cus- 
toms, of  "  the  only  people,  except  the  whites,  who,  so  f.ir  as  we  know,  have  ever 
held  the  regions  in  which  these  remains  are  found." — Nation, 

The  Customs  and  Moniments  of  Prehistoric   Peoples.     By 

the  Manjuis  de  Nadaillac.  Translated,  with  the  permission  of 
the  Author,  by  Nancy  Bell  (N.   D'Anvers).     F'ully  illustrated. 

8vo.        ... $3  00 

Chief  Contents.— The  Stone  Age,  its  Duration,  and  its  Place 
in  Time  — Food,  Cannibalism,  Mammals,  Fish,  Flunting  and 
Fishing,  Navigation — Weapons,  Tools,  Pottery  ;  Origin  of  the 
Use  of  Fire,  Clothing,  Ornaments  ;  Early  Artistic  Efforts — 
Caves,  Kitchen-Middings,  Lake  Stations,  "  Terremares,"  Cran- 
noges,  Burghs,  "  Nurhags,"  "  Talayoti,"  and  "  Truddhi  "— 
Megalithic  Monuments— Industry,  Commerce,  Social  Organiza- 
tion ;  Flights,  Wounds  and  Trepanation^Camps,  F"ortifications, 
Vitrified  F'orts  ;  Santorin  ;  the  Towns  upon  the  Hill  of  Ilissarlik 
— Tombs — Index. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  Pubi.isiiERS, 

MEW   YORK   AND   LONDON. 


MANNERS  AND  MONUMENTS 


OF 


PREHISTORIC    PEOPLES 


THE   MARQUIS  DE   NADAILLAC 

COKRESrONDENT   OK   Ti;E    INSTITUTE 

AUTHOR    OF    "  l'aM^KIQUE    PRfeHISTORlQUE,"    "  LES    PREMIERS    HOMMES    ET   LES 
TEMl'S    I'RliHISTORIQURS,"    ETC. 


WITH    113    ILLUSTRATIONS 


TRANSLATED    liY 

NANCY  BELT  (N.   D'Anvers) 

AUTHOR   01--   '"THE    ELEMENl'AKV    HISIOKY    OF   ART,"    "tIIE    LIFE-STORY 
OF   OUR    EAKTH,"  "THE    STORY    OF    EARLY    MAN,"  ETC. 


G.   P.    PUTNAM'S    SONS 

NEW    YORK  LONDON 

27    WEST   TWEN  lY-THIHl)    STNEKI"  24    liEDFORlJ    STREET,  STRAND 

Sl^c  Jmithcrbochtr  llrtss 
1894 


Copyright,  1892 

BY 

NANCY    BELL 


lUortrotypcd,  Printed,  and  Bound  by 

trbc  lljnichcrbochcr  press,  mew  Jljorft 
Ci.  r.  I'll  nam's  Sons 


1  ^%  WI^ERSITY  OF  CALIFORNU 


TRANSLATOR'S   NOTE 


The  present  volume  lias  been  translated,  with  the 
author's  consent,  from  the  Fi'ench  of  the  Marquis  de 
Nadaillac.  Tlie  author  and  translator  liave  carefully 
])rought  down  to  date  the  original  edition,  embodying 
the  discov^eries  made  during  the  progi-ess  of  the  v\a)rk. 
The  book  will  be  found  to  be  an  epitome  of  all  that 
is  known  on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats,  and  covei's 
ground  not  at  present  occupied  by  any  other  work  in 
the  English  language. 

Nancy  Bell  (N.  D'Anvers). 


SOTTTTinoUKNE-ON-SEA, 
1891. 


CONTENTS. 


I.     The  Stone  Age,  rrs   Duratiox,  and   its 

Place  in  Time i 

11.     Food,  Cannibalism,  Mammals,  Fish,  Hunt. 

iNG  and   Fishin(;,  Navigation        .        ,      47 

III.  Weapons,  Tools,  Pottery  ;  Origin  of  the 

Use    of   Fire,   Clothing,   Ornaments  ; 
Early  Artistic  Efforts         ...      79 

IV.  Caves,  Kitchen-Middings,  Lake  Stations, 

"  Terremares,"    Crannoges,     Burghs, 

"  NURHAGS,"    "  TaLAYOTI,"    AND    "  TrUD- 

DHI  " 127 

V.     MEtJALiTHTc  Monuments      .        .        .        .174 
VI.     Industry,   Commerce,   Social    Organiza- 
tion;   Fights,   Wounds  and   Trepana- 
tion       231 

VII.     Cami's,  P'ortifications,  Vitrified  P^orts; 
Santorin;  the  Towns  upon  the  Hill 

OF  HissARLiic 279 

VIII.     Tombs 343 

Index 383 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Fossil  man  from  Men  tone        ....  Frontispiece 

1.  Stone  weapons  described  by  Mahudel  in  1734         .         8 

2.  Copper  hatchets   found   in    Hungary  and   now   in 

national  museum  of  Budapest      ....         20 

3.  Copper    beads     from     Connett's      Mound,     Ohio 

(natural  size)        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         21 

4.  Stone  statues  on  Easter  Island         ....         37 

5.  Fort-hill,  Ohio 39 

6.  Group  of  sepulchral  mounds    .....         40 

7.  Ground  plan  of  a  pueblo  of  the  Mac-Elmo  valley    .         41 

8.  Cliff-house  on  the  Rio  Mancos         ....         42 

9.  House  in  a  rock  of  the  Montezuma  canon        .         .         43 
.  Fragments  of  arrows  made  of  reindeer  horn'' 

from  the  Martinet   cave    (Lot-et-Garonne). 
!.  Point  of  spear  or  harpoon  in  stag-horn  (one 
I  third  natural  size).  ^^ 

3.  and  4.  Bone  weapons  from  Denmark.  ^ 

5.  Harpoon  of  stag-horn  from  St.  Aubin. 

6.  Bone  fish-hooks   pointed   at  each  end,  from 
Waugen. 

11.  Bear's  teeth  converted  into  fish-hooks.  ) 

02 

12.  Fish-hook  made  out  of  a  boar's  tusk.  \ 


A.  Large  barbed  arrow  from  one  side  of  the  Plan- 

tade  shelter  (Tarn-et-Garonne). 

B.  Lowerpart  of  a  barbed  harpoon  from  the  Plan-  f 


65 


V  tade  deposit. 

14.  Ancient  Scandinavian  boat  found  beneath  a  tumulus 

at  Gogstadten       .         .         .         .         .         .         .         73 

15.  Ancient  boat  discovered  in  the  bed  of  the  Cher  75 


Vlli  ILL  US  TEA  TIONS. 


A  lake  pirogue  found  in  the  Lake  of  Neuchatel. 
i6.     \  I.  As  seen  outside.  \      76 

2.  and  3.  Longitudinal  and  transverse  sections. 

Stones   used  as  anchors,  found  in  the  Bay  ofl 

17.      I  Penhouet.  [ 

'   I,  2,  3.  Stones  weighing  about  160  lbs.  each.         ' 


82 


4.  and  5.  Lighter  stones,  probably  used  for  canoes 

18.  Scraper  from  the  Delaware  valley. 

19.  Implement  from  the  Delaware  valley. 

20.  Worked  flints  from  the  Lafaye  and  Plantade  shelters 

(Tarn-et-Garonne)       ......         83 

21.  I.  Stone  javelin-head  with  handle.    2.  Stone  hatchet 

with  handle ........         8g 

22.  I.  Fine  needles.    2.  Coarse  needles.    3.  Amulet.    4 

and  6.  Ornaments.  5.  Cut  flints.  7.  Fragment  of 
a  harpoon.  8.  Fragments  of  reindeer  antlers  w-ith 
signs  or  drawings.  9.  Whistle.  10.  One  end  of  a 
bow  (?).  II.  Arrow-head.  (From  the  Vache, 
Massat,  and  Lourdes  caves)  .         .         .         .         91 

23.  Amulet   made  of  the  penien  bone  of  a  bear  and 

found  in  the  Marsoulas  cave         ....         92 

24.  Various  stone  and  bone  objects  from  California       .         93 

25.  Dipper  found  in  the  excavations  at  the  Chassey  camp         95 

26.  Pottery  of  a  so  far  unclassified  type  found  in  the 

Argent  cave  (France). 98 

27.  I.  Lignite  pendant.     2.  Bone  pendant.    (Thayngen 

cave)    .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .107 

28.  Round  pieces  of  skull,  pierced  with    holes  (M.   de 

Baye's  collection)         .         .         .         .         ,         .110 
(  Part  of  a  rounded  piece  of  a  human  parietal. 

29.  ■<  Stiletto  made  of  the  end  of  a  human  radius. 
'  Disk,  made  of  the  burr  of  a  stag's  antler. 

30.  Whistle  from  the  Massenat  collection       .         .         .112 

31.  Staff  of  office 113 

32.  Staff  of  office,  made  of  stag-horn  pierced  with  four 

holes    .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .114 

33.  Staff  of  office  found  at  Lafaye.  \ 

34.  Staff    of    office   in    reindeer   antler,    with    a    horsed    115 

engraved  on  it  (Thayngen).  ) 


ILL  US  TA'A  riONS.  IX 

FIGURE  PAGE 

35.  Staff  of  ofifice  found  at  Montgaudier        .         .         .117 

36.  Carved  dagger-hilt  (Laugerie-Basse).  ] 

37.  The  great  cave-bear,  drawn  on  a  pebble  found  \w  r    118 

the  Massat  cave  (Garrigou  collection).  ' 

x?i.  Mammoth  or  elephant  from  the  Lena  cave.  \ 

39.  Seal  engraved  on  a  bear's  tooth,  found  at  Sordes.      ) 

40.  Fragment  of  a  bone,  with  regular  designs.      Frag- 

ment of  a  rib  on  which  is  engraved  a  musk-ox, 
found  in  the  Marsoulas  cave        .         .         .         .120 

41.  Head  of  a  horse  from  the  Thayngen  cave. 

42.  Bear   engraved    on   a   bone,    from    the    Thayngen 

cave. 

43.  Reindeer  grazing,  from  the  Thayngen  cave      .         .        122 

44.  Head  of  Ovibos  mosc/iatus,  engraved  on  wood,  found 

in  the  Thayngen  cave  .         .         .         .         .123 

45.  Young  man  chasing  the  aurochs,  from  Laugerie       .        124 

46.  Fragment  of  a  staff  of  office,  from  the  Madelaine  ^ 

cave.  I 

47.  Human  face  carved  on  a  reindeer  antler,  found   m 

the  Rochebertier  cave.  -^ 

48.  The  glyptodon  .         .         .         .         .         .         .128 

49.  Mylodon  7' ob  list  us      .         .         .         .         .         .         .129 

50.  Objects  discovered  in  the  peat-bogs  of  Laybach, 

A.  Earthenware  vase.  B.  Fragment  of  orna- 
mented pottery.  C.  Bone  needle.  D.  Earthen- 
ware weight  for  fishing-net.  E.  Fragment  of  jaw- 
bone    .........        152 

51.  Small  terra-cotta  figures  found  in  the  Laybach  pile 

dwellings.     ........        153 

52.  Small   terra-cotta    figures   from    the    Laybach    pile 

dwellings.     ........  154 

53.  Nurhag  at  Santa  Barbara  (Sardinia)         .         .         ,  168 

54.  "  Talayoti "  at  Trepuco  (Minorca)            ,         .         .  170 

55.  Dolmen  of  Castle  Wellan  (Ireland)           .         .  175 

56.  The  large  dolmen  of  Careoro,  near  Plouharnel         .  176 

57.  Dolmen  of  Arrayalos  (Portugal)       ....  177 

58.  Megalithic  sepulchre  at  Acora  (Peru)       .         .         .  178 

59.  The   great   broken    menhir    of    Locmariaker  with 

Caesar's  table 186 


ILL  USTRA  TIONS. 


60.  Covered  avenue  of  Dissignac  (Loire-Inferieure),view 

of  the  chamber  at  the  end  of  the  north  gallery 

61.  Covered  avenue  near  Antequera 

62.  Ground  plan  of  the  Gavr'innis  monument 
(iTy.  Monoliths  at  Stennis,  in  the  Orkney  Islands     . 

64.  Cromlech  near  Bone  (Algeria) 

65.  Dolmen  at  Pallicondah,  near  Madras  (India) 

66.  Dolmen  at  Maintenon,  with  a  table  about  19I  feet 

long 

67.  Part  of  the  Mane-Lud  dolmen 

68.  Sculptures  on  the  menhirs  of  the  covered  avenue  o 

Gavr'innis    ....... 

69.  Dolmen  with  opening  (India)  .... 

70.  Dolmen  near  Trie  (Oise)  .... 

71.  Bronze  objects  found  at  Krasnojarsk  (Siberia) 

72.  Prehistoric  polisher  near  the  ford  of  Beaumoulin 

Nemours      ....... 

73.  Section  of  a  flint  mine      ..... 

74.  Plan  of  a  gallery  of  flint  mine  ... 

75.  Picks,  hammers,  and  mattocks  made  of  stag-horn 

76.  Cranium  of  a  woman  from  Cro-Magnon  (full  face) 

77.  Skull  of  a  woman  found  at  Sordes,  showing  a  severe 

wound,  from  which  she  recovered 

78.  Fragment  of  human  tibia  with  exostosis  enclosing 

the  end  of  a  flint  arrow         .... 

79.  Fragment  of  human  humerus  pierced  at  the  elbow 

joint  (Trou  d'Argeni)  .... 

80.  xMesaticephalic  skull,  with   wound  which  has  been 

trepanned    ....... 

8r.  Trepanned  Peruvian  skull        .... 

82.  Skull  from  the  Bougon  dolmen  (Deux-S^vres),  seen 

in  profile      ....... 

83.  Trepanned  prehistoric  skull     .... 

84.  Prehistoric  spoon  and  button  found  in  a  lake  station 

at  Sutz  ....... 

85.  General  view  of  the  station  of  Fuente-Alamo  . 

86.  Group  at  Liberty  (Ohio)  .... 

87.  Trenches  at  Juigalpa  (Nicaragua)    . 

88.  Vases  found  at  Santorin 


189 
190 
191 

196 

201 

204 
208 

210 
211 

212 
237 

239 

242 

243 

245 
249 

250 
252 

253 

259 
268 

273 
274 

287 

293 
299 
300 


ILL  USTKA  TIONS. 


XI 


89.  Vase  ending  in  the  snout  of  an  animal,  found  on  the 

hill  of  Hissarlik    ....... 

90.  I'uneral  vase  containing  human  ashes. 

91.  Large  terra-cotta  vases  found  at  Troy 

92.  Earthenware  pitcher  found  at  a  depth  of  19!  feet. 

93.  Vase  found  beneath  the  ruins  of  Troy. 

94.  Terra-cotta  vase  found  with  the  treasure  of  Priam. 

95.  Vase  found  beneath  the  ruins  of  Troy. 

96.  Earthenware  pig  found  at  a  depth  of  13  feet  . 

97.  Vase  surmounted  by  an  owl's  head,  found  beneath 

the  ruins  of  Troy  ...... 

98.  Copper  vases  found  at  Troy     .         .         .         .         . 

99.  Vases  of  gold  and  electrum,  with  two  ingots  (Troy), 

100.  Gold  and  silver  objects  from  the  treasure  of  Priam, 
loi.  Gold  ear-rings,  head-dress,  and  necklace  of  golden 

beads  from  the  treasure  of  Priam 
102    Terra-cotta  fusaioles       ..... 

103.  Cover  of  a  vase  with  the  symbol  of  the  swastika 

104.  Stone  hammer  from  New  Jersey  bearing  an  unde 

ciphered  inscription     ..... 

105.  Chulpa  near  Palca.  ..... 

106    Dolmen  at  Auvernier  near  the  lake  of  Neuchatel 

107.  A  stone  chest  used  as  a  sepulchre  . 

108.  Example  of  burial  in  a  jar      .... 

109.  Aymara  mummy     ...... 

no.  Peruvian  mummies  ..... 

111.  Erratic  block  from  Scania,  covered  with  carvings 

112.  Engraved  rock  from  Massibert  (Lozere) 


325 
326 

327 

328 

329 
330 

331 

334 

335 

IZ^ 
339 
340 

341 
357 
359 
361 

Z^l 
365 
367 

379 

380 


MANNERS  AND  MONUMENTS  OF 
PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    STONE    AGE  :    ITS    DURATION    AND    ITS    PLACE    IN 

TIME. 

The  nineteenth  century,  now  nearing  its  close,  has 
made  an  indelible  inipi'ession  upon  the  history  of  the 
world,  and  never  were  greater  things  accomplished 
with  more  marvellous  rapidity.  Every  branch  of 
science,  without  exception,  has  shared  in  this  prog- 
ress, and  to  it  the  daily  accumulating  information 
respecting  different  parts  of  the  globe  has  greatly 
contributed.  Regions,  previously  completely  closed, 
have  been,  so  to  speak,  simultaneously  opened  by  the 
energy  of  explorers,  who,  like  Livingstone,  Stanley, 
and  Nordenskiold,  have  won  immortal  renown.  In 
Africa,  the  Soudan,  and  the  equatorial  regions,  where 
the  sources  of  the  Nile  lie  hidden  ;  in  Asia,  the  interior 
of  Arabia,  and  the  Hindoo  Koosh  or  Pamir  mountains, 
have  been  visited  and  explored.  In  America  whole 
districts  but  yesterday  inaccessible  are  now  intersected 
by  railways,  whilst  in  the  otlier  hemisphere  Australia 
and  the  islands  of  Polynesia  have  been  colonized ;  new 


2  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

societies  have  rapidly  s|)rung  into  l)eing,  and  even  the 
iinmeltin^  ice  of  the  polar  regions  no  longer  checks 
the  advance  of  the  intrepid  explorer.  And  all  this  is 
but  a  small  portion  of  the  work  on  ^vhicli  tlie  present 
generation  may  justly  pride  itself. 

Distant  wars  too  have  contributed  in  no  small  meas- 
ure to  the  progress  of  science.  To  the  victorious 
march  of  the  French  army  we  owe  the  discovery  of 
new  facts  relative  to  the  ancient  history  of  Algeria ;  it 
was  the  adv^ance  of  the  English  and  Kussian  forces 
tliat  revealed  the  secret  of  the  mysterious  lands  in  the 
heart  of  Asia,  whence  many  scholars  believe  the  Euro- 
pean races  to  have  first  issued,  and  of  this  ever  open 
book  the  French  expedition  to  Tonquin  may  be  con- 
sidered at  present  one  of  the  last  pages. 

Geographical  knowledge  does  much  to  pi'omote  the 
progress  of  the  kindred  sciences.  The  work  of  Cham- 
pollion,  so  l)rilliantly  supplemented  by  the  Vicomte  de 
Rouge  and  IMai'iette  Be}',  has  led  to  the  accurate  classi- 
fication of  tlie  monuments  of  Egypt.  The  deciphering 
of  the  cuneiform  inscriptions  has  given  us  tlie  dates  of 
the  })alaces  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon  ;  the  intei'[)reta- 
tion  by  savants  of  other  inscriptions  has  made  known 
to  us  those  Ilittites  whose  formidable  power  at  one 
time  extended  as  far  as  the  Mediterranean,  but  whose 
name  had  until  quite  recently  fallen  into  complete  ob- 
livion. The  rock-hewn  temples  and  the  yet  more 
straui^e  dam)bas  of  India  now  belong:  to  science. 
Like  the  sacred  monuments  of  Burniah  and  Cam- 
bodia they  have  been  biought  down  to  compara- 
tively I'ecent  dates  ;  and  though  the  [)alaces  of  Yucatan 
and  Peru  still  maintain  their  I'eserve,  we  are  able  to  fix 
their  dates  a[)proximately,  and  to  show  that  long  be- 


THE   STONE  AGE.  3 

fore  their  construction  North  America  was  inhabited 
by  races,  one  of  which,  known  as  the  Mound  Buihlers, 
left  behind  them  gigantic  earthworks  of  many  kinds, 
whilst  another,  known  as  the  Cliff  Dwelleis,  built  for 
themselves  houses  on  the  face  of  all  but  inaccessible 
rocks. 

Comparative  [)hilology  has  enabled  us  to  trace  back 
the  genealogies  of  races,  to  determine  their  origin,  and 
to  follow  their  migrati(Mis.  Burnouf  has  brought  to 
light  the  ancient  Zend  language,  Sir  Henry  Rawlin- 
son  and  Op[)ert  have  })y  their  magnificent  works  opened 
up  new  methods  of  research.  Max  Muller  aii<l  Pictet  in 
their  turn  by  availing  themselves  of  the  most  divei'se 
materials  have  done  much  to  make  known  to  us  the 
Aryan  lace,  the  great  educator,  if  I  may  so  speak,  of 
modern  nations. 

To  one  great  fact  do  all  the  most  ancient  epochs  of 
history  bear  witness :  one  and  all,  they  prove  the  exist- 
ence in  a  yet  more  i-emote  past  of  an  already  advanced 
civilization  such  as  could  only  have  been  gradually  at- 
tained to  after  long  and  arduous  groping.  Who  were 
the  inaugurators  of  this  civilization  ?  Who  ware  the 
earliest  inhaljitants  of  the  eai'tli  ?  To  what  biological 
conditions  ^^ere  they  subject '{  A\^hat  were  the  physical 
and  climatic  conditions  of  the  globe  when  they  lived  ? 
By  what  flora  and  fauna  were  they  surrounded  ?  But 
science  pushes  her  in(piiry  yet  further.  She  desires  to 
know  the  origin  of  the  human  race,  when,  how,  and 
why  men  first  ap[)eared  upon  the  earth  ;  for  from 
whatever  point  of  view  he  is  considered,  man  must  of 
necessity  have  had  a  beginning. 

We  are  in  fact  face  to  face  with  most  formidable 
problems,  involving  alike  our  past  and  future ;  problems 


4  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

it  is  hopeless  to  attempt  to  solve  by  Inimaii  means  or 
by  the  help  of  human  intelligence  alone,  yet  with 
which  science  can  and  ought  to  grapple,  for  they  ele- 
vate the  soul  and  strengthen  the  reasoning  faculties. 
Whatever  may  be  their  final  result,  such  studies  are 
of  enthralling  interest.  "  Man,"  said  a  learned  mem- 
ber of  the  French  Institute,  "  will  ever  be  for  man  the 
grandest  of  all  mysteries,  the  most  absorbing  of  all 
objects  of  contemplation."  ^ 

Let  us  work  our  way  back  through  past  centuries 
and  study  our  remote  ancestors  on  their  first  arrival 
upon  earth  ;  let  us  watch  their  early  struggles  for  exist- 
ence !  We  will  deal  with  facts  alone;  we  will  accept 
no  theories^  and  we  must,  alas,  often  fail  to  come  to  any 
conclusion,  for  the  present  state  of  prehistoric  knowl- 
edge rarely  admits  of  certainty.  We  must  ever  be 
ready  to  modify  theories  by  the  study  of  facts,  and 
never  forget  that,  in  a  science  so  little  advanced,  theo- 
ries must  of  necessity  be  provisional  and  variable. 

Truly  strange  is  the  starting-point  of  prehistoric 
science.  It  is  with  the  aid  of  a  few  scarcely  even 
rough-hewn  flints,  a  few  bones  that  it  is  difiicult  to 
classify,  and  a  few  rude  stone  monuments  that  we  have 
to  build  up,  it  must  be  for  our  readers  to  say  with 
^vhat  success,  a  past  long  prior  to  any  written  history, 
which  has  left  no  trace  in  the  memory  of  man,  and 
duiing  which  our  globe  Mould  appear  to  have  been 
subject  to  conditions  wholly  uidike  those  of  the  present 
day. 

The  stones  which  will  first  claim  our  attention,  some 
of  them  very  skilfully  cut  and  carefully  polished, 
have  been  known  for  centuiies.     According  to  Sueto- 

'  M.  Gaston. 


THE   STONE  AGE.  5 

niiia,  tlie  Emperor  Aiijj^iistus  possessed  in  liis  palace 
on  the  Palatine  Hill  a  considerable  collection  of 
hatchets  of  different  kinds  of  rock,  nearly  all  of  them 
found  in  the  island  of  Capri  and  which  were  to  their 
I'oyal  owner  the  wea[)ons  of  the  heroes  of  mythology. 
Pliny  tells  of  a  thunder-})olt  having  fallen  into  a 
lake,  in  which  eighty-nine  of  these  wonderful  stones 
were  soon  afterwards  found.'  Prudentius  represents 
ancient  German  warriors  as  wearing  gleaming  ceraunia 
on  their  helmets  ;  in  other  countries  similar  stones 
ornamented  the  statues  of  the  gods,  and  formed  rays 
about  their  heads.^ 

A  subject  so  calculated  to  fire  the  imagination  has 
of  course  not  been  neglected  by  the  poets.  Claudian's 
verses  are  well  known  : 

Pyrenreisque  sub  antris 
Ignea  fluminea.^  legere  ceraunia  nymphre. 

Marbodius,  Bishop  of  Rennes,  in  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury, sang  of  the  thunder-stones  in  some  Latin  verses 
which  have  come  down  to  us,  and  an  old  poet  of  the 
sixteenth  century  in  his  turn  exclaimed,  on  seeing  the 
strange  bones  around  him  : 

Le  roc  de  Tarascon  hebergea  quelquefois 

Les  geants  qui  couroyent  les  niontagiies  de  Foix, 

Dont  taut  d'os  successifs  ren<lent  le  temoignage. 

With  these  stones,  in  fact,  were  found  numerous 
bones  of  great  size,  which  had  belonged  to  unknown 
creatures.  Latin  authors  speak  of  similar  bones  found 
in  Asia  Minor,  which  they  took  to  be  those  of  giants 

'  Pliny  calls  them  ceraunia  gemma  ("Natural  History,"  book  ii.,  ch.  59; 
book  xxxvii.,  ch.  51). 

*  S.  Reinach  proves  clearly  enough  that  the  collections  ot  the  Emperor 
Augustus  were   from  Ca]>ri. 


6  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

of  an  extinct  race.  This  belief  was  long  maintained  ; 
in  1547  and  again  in  1667  fossil  remains  were  fonnd 
in  the  cave  of  San  Giro  near  Palermo  ;  and  Italian 
savants  decided  that  they  had  belonged  to  men  eighteen 
feet  high,  Guicciadunus  speaks  of  the  bones  of  huge 
elephants  carefully  pi-eserved  in  the  Hotel  de  Ville  at 
Antwerp  as  the  bones  of  a  giant  named  Donon,  who 
lived  1300  years  before  the  Chiistiau  era. 

In  days  nearer  our  own  the  most  cultiv^ated  people 
accepted  the  i-emains  of  a  gigantic  bati'achian '  as 
those  of  a  man  who  had  ^vitnessed  the  flood,  and  it 
was  the  same  with  a  tortoise  fonnd  in  Italy  scarcely 
thii'ty  years  ago.  Dr.  Carl,  in  a  Avork  published  at 
Frankfort'  in  1709,  took  up  another  theory,  and,  such 
was  the  general  ignorance  at  the  time,  he  used  long 
arguments  to  prove  that  the  fossil  bones  were  the 
result  neither  of  a  freak  of  nature,  nor  of  the  action 
of  a  plastic  force,  and  it  was  not  until  near  the  end  of 
his  life  that  the  illustrious  Camper  could  bring  him- 
self to  admit  the  extinction  of  certain  species,  so  totally 
against  Divine  revelation  did  such  a  phenomenon 
appear  to  him  to  be. 

Pi'ejudices  were  not,  however,  always  so  obstinate. 
Foi'  moT'e  than  thi'ee  centuries  stones  worked  by  the 
hand  of  man  have  been  preserved  in  the  Museum  of 
the  Vatican,  and  as  long  ago  as  the  time  of  Clement 
VIII.  his  doctor,  Mercati,  declared  these  stones  to 
have  been  the  weapons  of  antediluvians  \vho  had  been 
still  ignorant  of  the  use  of  metals. 

'  This  skeleton  was  discovered  in  1726  by  Scheiichzer,  a  doctor  of  QEningen, 
and  by  him  placed  in  the  Leyden  Museum,  with  the  pompous  inscription  : 
Homo  diluvii  testis  {Philosophical  Transactions,  vol.  xxxiv.).  Cuvier,  by 
scraping  away  the  stone,  revealed  the  true  nature  of  the  fossil. 

*  "  Ossium  Kossiliuni  Docimasia." 


THE   STONE   AGE.  7 

During  the  eai'ly  portion  of  the  eigbteentli  century 
a  pointed  black  iiint,  evidently  the  head  of  a  spear, 
was  found  in  London  with  the  tooth  of  an  elephant. 
It  was  described  in  the  newspapers  of  the  day,  and 
placed  in  the  British  Museum. 

In  1723  Antoine  de  Jussieu  said,  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Academie  des  Sciences,  that  these  worked  stones 
had  been  made  where  they  were  found,  or  bi-onght 
from  distant  countries.  He  supported  his  arguments 
by  an  excellent  example  of  the  way  in  which  savage 
i-aces  still  polish  stones,  by  rubbing  them  continuously 
together. 

A  few  years  later  the  members  of  the  Academie 
des  InscriiMons  in  their  turn,  took  up  the  question, 
and  Mahudel,  one  of  its  membei's,  in  presenting  several 
stones,  showed  that  they  had  evidently  been  cut  by 
the  hand  of  man.  "  An  examination  of  them,"  he 
said,  "  affords  a  proof  of  the  efforts  of  our  earliest 
ancestors  to  provide  for  their  wants,  and  to  obtain  the 
necessaries  of  life."  He  added  that  after  the  re- 
peopling  of  the  earth  after  the  deluge,  men  were 
ignorant  of  the  use  of  metals.  Mahudel's  essay  is 
illustrated  by  drawings,  some  of  which  we  reproduce 
(Fig.  1),  showing  wedges,  hammers,  hatchets,  and  flint 
arrow-heads  taken,  he  tells  us,  from  various  private 
collections.* 

Bishop  Lyttelton,  writing  in  1736,  speaks  of  such 
weapons  as  having  been  made  at  a  remote  date  by 
savao-es  io;uorant  of  the  use  of  metals,^  and  Sii'  W. 
Dugdale,  an  eminent  autiquaiy  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  attributed  to   the  ancient  Britons  some  flint 

'  "  Mem.  Acad,  des  Inscriptions,"  1734,  vol.  x.,  p.  163. 
^  Arc/i(£ologia,  vol.  ii.,  p.  llS. 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


hatchets  found  in  Warwickshire,  and  thinks  they  were 
made  when  these  weapons  alone  were  used.  ^ 


Fk;.  I. — Stone  weapons  ile.sci"il)e<l  l)y  Mahudel  in  1734. 

A  (•oiiiiiiiiiiicutioii  ]ua(h!  by  Frere  to  the  Hoyal 
Society  of  London  deserves  mention  here  with  a 
few  supplenientary  remarks.^ 


'  "  The  Antiquities  of  Warwickshire,"  vol.  iv.,  1656. 
"^  ArcJuroloi^la,  vol.  xiii.,  p.  105. 


THE   STONE  AGE.  9 

This  distinguished  man  of  science  found  at  Hoxne, 
in  Suifolk,  about  tvv^elve  feet  below  the  surface  of 
the  soil,  worked  flints,  which  had  evidently  Ijeen 
the  natural  weajions-  of  a  people  who  had  no  knowl- 
edge of  metals.  With  these  flints  were  found  some 
strange  bones  with  the  gigantic  jaw  of  an  animal  then 
uidvnown.  Frere  adds  that  the  number  of  chips  of 
flint  was  so  great  that  the  workmen,  ignorant  of  their 
scientific  value,  used  them  in  road-making.  Every- 
tliing  pointed  to  the  conclusion  that  Hoxne  was  the 
[)lace  whei'e  this  primitive  people  manufactured  the 
weapons  and  im[)lements  they  used,  so  that  as  early  as 
the  end  of  last  centuiy  a  member  of  the  Royal  Society 
formulated  the  pi'opositions,^  now  fully  accepted,  that 
at  a  very  remote  epoch  men  used  nothing  but  stone 
weapons  and  implements,  and  that  side  by  side  with 
these  men  lived  huge  animals  unknown  in  historic 
times.  These  facts,  strange  as  they  appear  to  us, 
attracted  no  attention  at  the  time.  It  would  seem 
that  special  acumen  is  needed  for  every  fresh  discov- 
ery, and  that  until  the  time  for  that  discovery  comes, 
evidence  remains  unheeded  and  science  is  altogether 
blind  to  its  significance. 

But  to  resume  our  narrative.  It  is  interestinc;  to 
note  the  various  phases  throngh  which  the  matter 
passed  before  the  problem  was  solved.  In  1819,  M. 
Jouannet  announced  that  he  had  found  stone  weapons 
near  Perigoi'd.  In  1823,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Buckland  pub- 
lished the  "  Reliquiae  Diluviamie,"  the  value  of  which, 
though  it  is  a  work  of  undoubted  merit,  was  greatly 
lessened  by  the  preconceived  ideas  of  its  author.  A 
few  years  later,  Tournal  announced  his  discoveries  in 

'  Castelfranco  :  Rei'tir  d'A ii/hropo/oxif,  1887. 


10  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

the  cave  of  Bize,  near  T^arbonne,  in  which,  mixed 
with  human  bones,  he  found  the  remains  of  various 
animals,  some  extinct,  some  still  native  to  the  disti'ict, 
together  with  worked  flints  and  fragments  of  pottery. 
After  this,  Tournal  maintained  that  man  had  l»een  the 
contemporai'}'  of  tlie  animals  tlie  bones  of  which  were 
mixed  with  the  products  of  human  industry.'  The 
results  of  the  celebrated  researches  of  Dr.  Schmerling 
in  the  caves  near  Liege  were  pul^lished  in  1838.  He 
states  his  conclusions  frankly :  "  The  shape  of  the 
flints,"  he  says,  ''is  so  regular,  that  it  is  impossible 
to  confound  them  with  those  found  in  the  Chalk  or 
in  Tertiary  sti'ata.  Reflection  compels  us  to  admit 
that  these  flints  were  worked  by  the  hand  of  man,  and 
that  they  may  have  been  used  as  ai'i'ows  or  as  knives." 
Schmei'ling  does  not  refer,  though  Lyell  does,  and  that 
in  terras  of  high  admiration,  to  the  courage  requiied 
for  the  arduous  work  involved  in  the  exploration 
of  the  caves  referred  to,  or  to  the  yet  more  serious 
obstacles  the  professor  had  to  oxercome  in  publish- 
ing conchisions  op[)osed  to  the  oflicial  science  of  the 
day. 

In  1835,  M.  Joly,  by  his  excavations  in  the  Nabrigas 
cave,  established  the  contem])oraneity  of  man  with 
the  cave  bear,  and  a  little  later  M.  Pomel  announced 
his  belief  that  man  had  witnessed  the  last  eruptions  of 
tlie  volcanoes  of  Auvei'mie. 

In  spite  of  these  discovei-ies,  and  the  eager  discus- 
sions to  which  they  led,  the  (piestion  of  the  anti(piity 
of  man  and  of  his  presence  amongst  tlie  great  Quater- 

^  Annali-s  des  Scit'uces  N^attirc'llrs,  vol.  xvii.,  ji.  607.    Cartailhac  ;    Mali'riaux, 
1884. 
^  "  Recherches  sur  les  Ossenients  F'ossiles  de  la  rrovince  de  Liege." 


THE   srONE  AGE.  II 

nary  animals  made  but  little  pi-ogress,  and  it  Avas 
reserved  to  a  Frenchman,  M.  Boucher  de  Perthes,  to 
compel   the  scientific  world  to  accept  tlie  ti'uth. 

It  was  iu  l.S2()  that  Boucher  de  Peithes  fii-st  pul)- 
lished  his  ()[)iuion  ;  but  it  w'as  not  until  18-K)  and  1847 
that  he  announced  liis  discovery  at  Menchecouit,  near 
Abbeville,  and  at  Moulin-Quignon  and  Saint  Acheul, 
in  the  alluvial  de[)osits  of  the  Somme,  of  flints  shaped 
into  the  form  of  hatcliets  associated  with  the  remains 
of  extinct  animals  such  as  the  mammoth,  the  cave  lion, 
the  Rhinoceros  incisivus,  the  hippopotamus,  and  other 
animals  whose  presence  in  France  is  not  alluded  to  either 
in  history  or  tradition.  The  uniformity  of  shape,  the 
marks  of  repeated  chipping,  and  the  sharp  edges  so 
noticeable  in  the  greater  number  of  these  hatchets, can- 
not be  sufficiently  accounted  for  either  l)y  the  action  of 
water,  oi'  the  rul)bing  against  each  other  of  the  stones, 
still  less  by  the  mechanical  work  of  glaciers.  We  must 
therefoi'e  recognize  in  them  the  results  of  some  delib- 
erate action  and  of  an  intelligent  will,  such  as  is  pos- 
sessed by  man,  and  by  man  alone.  Professoi"  Ramsay  ^ 
tells  us  that,  after  tw^enty  years'  experience  in  examin- 
ing stones  in  their  natural  condition  and  others  fash- 
ioned by  the  hand  of  man,  he  has  no  hesitation  in 
[)ronouncing  the  flints  and  hatchets  of  Amiens  and 
Abbeville  as  decidedly  woiks  of  art  as  the  knives 
of  Sheffield.  The  de[)osits  in  which  they  wei'e  found 
showed  no  signs  of  having  been  disturbed;  so  that  we 
may  confidently  conclude  that  the  men  who  worked 
these  flints  lived  where  the  banks  of  the  Somme  now 
are,  when  these  deposits  w^ere  in  coin'se  of  being  laid 
down,  and  that  he  was  the  contemporary  of  the  aui- 

^  Aihenixuin,  i6  July,  1S59. 


12  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

mals  whose  bones  lay  side  by  side  vvitli  the  products 
of  his  industry. 

This  conclusion,  \Yhich  now  appears  so  simple,  was 
not  accepted  without  difficulty.  Boucher  de  Perthes 
defended  his  discoveries  in  books,  in  pamphlets,  and 
in  letters  addressed  to  learned  societies.  He  had  the 
courage  of  his  convictions,  and  the  perseverance  which 
insures  success.  For  twenty  yeai's  lie  contended  pa- 
tiently against  the  indifference  of  some,  and  the  con- 
tempt of  others.  Everywhere  the  proofs  he  brought 
forward  were  rejected,  without  his  being  allowed  the 
honor  of  a  discussion  or  even  of  a  hearing.  The  earliest 
converts  to  De  Perthes'  conclusions  met  with  similar 
attacks  and  with  similar  indiiference.  There  is  noth- 
ing to  surprise  us  in  this;  it  is  human  nature  not  to 
take  readily  to  anything  new,  or  to  entertain  ideas 
opposed  to  old  established  traditions.  The  most  dis- 
tinguished men  find  it  difficult  to  break  with  the 
prejudices  of  their  education  and  the  yet  more  firmly 
established  prejudices  of  the  systems  they  have  them- 
selves built  up.  The  words  of  the  great  French 
fabulist  will   never  cease  to  be  true: 

Man  is  ice  to  truth  ; 
But  fire  to  lies. 

One  of  the  masters  of  modern  science,  Cuvier,  has 
said  ' :  ''  Everything  tends  to  prove  that  the  human 
race  did  not  exist  in  the  countiies  where  the  fossil 
})ones  were  found  at  the  time  of  the  convulsions  which 
])uried  those  bones ;  but  I  will  not  therefore  conclude 
that  man  did  not  exist  at  all  before  that  epoch  ;  he  may 

'  "  Discours  sur  les  Revolutions  tlu  tJlobe,"  tliird  edition,  p.  13,  Paris,  Didot, 
1861. 


THE    STONE   AGE.  I3 

have  inherited  certain  districts  of  small  extent  whence 
he  repeopled  the  earth  after  these  terrible  events." 
Cuvier's  disciples  went  beyond  the  doctrines  of  their 
master.  He  made  certain  reservations ;  they  admitted 
none,  and  one  of  the  most  illusti'ions,  Elie  de  Beaumont, 
rejected  with  scorn  the  possil)ility  of  the  co-existence 
of  man  and  the  manmioth.^  Later,  retracting  an  asser- 
tion of  \vhicli  [)ei'hnps  he  himself  recognized  the  ex- 
aggeration, he  contented  liimself  with  saying  that  the 
district  whei'e  the  flints  and  bones  had  l)een  collected 
belonged  to  a  recent  })eriod,  and  to  the  shifting  de- 
posits of  the  slopes  contemporary  with  the  peaty 
alluvium.  He  added — scientific  passions  are  by  no 
means  the  least  intense,  or  the  least  deeply  I'ooted — 
that  the  worked  flints  may  have  been  of  Roman  oi'igin, 
and  that  the  deposits  of  Moulin-Quignon  may  have 
covei'ed  a  Roman  I'oad  !  Tliis  might  indeed  have  been 
the  case  in  the  Departement  du  Nord^  where  a  road 
laid  down  by  the  conquerors  of  Gaul  has  completely 
disappeared  l)eneatli  deposits  of  peat,  but  it  could  not 
be  true  at  Moulin-Quignon,  where  gravels  form  the 
culminating  point  of  the  ridge.  Moreover,  the  laying 
down  of  the  most  ancient  peats  of  the  French  valleys 
did  not  begin  until  the  great  watercourses  had  been 
I'eplaced  by  the  rivers  of  the  present  day ;  they  never 
contain  relics  of  any  species  but  such  as  are  still  ex- 
tant ;  whereas  it  Avas  \\\t\\  the  remains  of  extinct  mam- 
mals that  the  flints  were  found. 

It  was  against  powei'ful  adversaries  such  as  this 
that  the  modest  savant  of  Abbeville  had  to  maintain 
his  opinion.  "  No  one,"  he  says,  "  cared  to  verify  the 
facts  of  the  case,  merely  giving  as  a  reason,  that  these 

'  Atiiti.  i/,'s  Sc/r/ui-s,  iSth  and  231!  May,  1863. 


14  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

facts  were  impossible."  Weight  was  added  to  Lis 
complaint  by  the  refusal  in  England  about  the  same 
time  to  print  a  communication  from  the  Society  of 
Natural  History  of  Tonpiay,  which  announced  the 
discovery  of  flints  worked  by  the  hand  of  man,  asso- 
ciated, as  were  those  of  the  Somme,  with  the  bones  of 
extinct  animals.  The  fact  appeai-ed  altogether  too 
incredible  ! 

But  the  time  when  justice  would  l>e  done  was  to 
come  at  last.  Dr.  Falconer  visited  fii'st  Amiens  and 
then  Abbeville,  to  examine  the  deposits  and  the  flints 
and  bones  found  in  them.  In  January,  1859,  and  in 
1860,  othei'  Englishmen  <>f  science  followed  his  exam- 
ple ;  and  excavations  were  made,  under  their  direction, 
in  the  massive  strata  which  rise,  from  the  chalk  foi'ming 
their  base,  to  a  height  of  108  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  Somme.  Their  search  was  crowned  with  success, 
and  they  lost  no  time  in  making  known  to  the  world 
the  I'esults  they  had  obtained,  and  the  convictions  to 
which  these  results  had  led.'  In  1859  Prestwich  an- 
nounced to  the  Royal  Society  of  London  that  the 
flints  found  in  the  bed  of  the  Somme  wei'e  undoubtedly 
the  work  of  the  hand  of  man,  that  they  had  been 
found  in  sti'ata  that  had  not  been  disturbed,  and  that 
the  men  who  cut  these  flints  had  lived  at  a  period 
prioi'  t(»  the  time  ^vhell  our  eai'th  assumed  its  ])resent 
configuration.  Sir  Chai'les  Lyell,  in  liis  opening  ad- 
dress at  a  session  of  the  British  Association,  di<l  not 
hesitate  to   support  the  conclusions  of  Piestwieh.     It 

'  Lubbock  :  "On  the  Evidence  of  the  Antiquity  of  Man  Afforded  by  the 
Physical  Structure  of  the  Somme  Valley"  {Xi.l.  //is/,  /w-t'/.-t.',  vol.  ii.). 
I'restwich  :  "  On  the  (Occurrence  of  Flint  Implements  Associated  with  the 
Remains  of  Extinct  Species  in  Hedsof  a  i.ate  ( leological  Period  "  {P/iil.  Trans., 
i860).      Evans  :  "  Flint  Iinjiiements  in  the  Drift  "  {Arc/i.,  1860-62). 


THK    STONE  AGE.  I  5 

was  now  the  turn  of  Fiviicliinen  of  science  to  arrive 
at  Abbeville.  MM.  Gaiidiy  and  Pouchet  themselves 
extracted  hatchets  from  the  Quaternary  deposits  of  the 
Somme.*  These  facts  wei'e  vouched  for  by  the  well- 
known  authority,  M.  de  Quatrefas^es,  Avho  had  ali'eady 
constituted  himself  th<Mr  advocate.  All  that  was  now 
needed  was  the  test  of  a  public  discussion,  and  the 
meetinui;  of  the  Anthro])ological  Society  of  Paris  sup- 
plied a  suitable  occasion.  The  question  received  long 
and  seai'ching  scientific  examination.  All  doubt  was 
removed,  and  M.  Isidoi'e  Geoff roy-Saint-Hilaire  Avas 
the  mouth-piece  of  an  inunense  majority  of  his  col- 
leagues, when  he  declai'ed  that  the  objections  to  the 
great  antifpiity  of  the  human  race  had  all  melted 
away.  The  conversion  of  men  so  illustrious  was  fol- 
lowed of  course  l)y  that  of  the  general  public,  and, 
more  fortunate  than  many  another,  Boucher  de  Perthes 
had  the  satisfaction  before  his  death  of  seeing  a  new 
bran(;h  of  knowledge  founded  on  his  discoveries,  attain 
to  a  just  and  durable  popularity  in  the  scientific  world. 
It  nuist  not,  however,  l)e  supposed  that  popular 
superstition  yielded  at  once  to  the  decisions  of  science, 
and  it  is  curious  to  meet  with  the  same  ideas  in  the 
most  different  climates,  and  in  districts  widely  separated 
from  each  other.'  Everywhere  worked  flints  are 
attributed  to  a  su[»ernatural  origin  ;  everywhere  they 
are  looked  upon  as  anudets  with  the  power  of  protect- 
ing their  owner,  his  house  or  his  flocks.  Russian 
peasants  believe  them  to  be  the  arrows  of  thunder, 
and  fatheis  transmit  them  to  their  children  as  precious 


'  Acad,  des  Sciences,  1859,  1863. 

'  Cartailhac  :    "  L'Age  de  Pierre  dans   les    Souvenirs   ct   les  Superstitions 
Populaires." 


1 6  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

heirlooms.  The  same  belief  is  held  iu  France,  Ireland, 
and  Scotland,  in  Scandinavia,  and  Hungary,  as  M'-ell  as 
in  Asia  Minor,  in  Japan,  China,  and  Burniah  ;  in  Java, 
and  amongst  the  people  of  tbe  Bahama  Islands,  as 
amonsfst  the  necrroes  of  the  Soudan  or  those  of  the 
west  coast  of  Africa,^  who  look  upon  these  stones  as 
bolts  launched  from  Heaven  by  Sango,  the  god  of 
thunder;  amongst  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Nicaragua 
as  well  as  the  Malays,  who,  however,  still  make  similar 
implements. 

The  name  given  to  these  flints  recalls  the  oi'igin 
attributed  to  them.  The  Komans  call  them  ceraunia 
from  Ji£pocvv6<;^  thunder,  and  in  the  catalogue  <>f  the 
possessions  of  a  noble  Veronese  published  in  1656, 
we  find  them  mentioned  under  this  namc.~'  Every  one 
knows  Cymbeline's  funeral  chant  in  Shakespeare's 
play : 

Fear  no  iiKire  the  lightning  flash 
Nor  tlie  all  dreaded  thunder-stone. 

In  Germany  we  are  shown  Donner-Keile,  in  Alsace 
Downer- Axt,  in  Holland  Domier-Beitels,  in  Denmark 
Tordensteen,  in  Norway  TordenlceUe,  in  Sweden  Thor- 
so(j(/ai%  Thor  having  been  the  god  of  thunder  amongst 
northern  nations;  while  with  the  Celts ^  the  Mengurun, 
in  Asia  Mjnor  the  Ylderim-taclii.,  in  Japan  the  Mai-fti- 
selci-nn-rui,  in  Roussillon  the  Pedrns  de  La7np,  and  in 
Andalusia  the  Piedras  de  Mayo  have  the  same  significa- 

'  A  short  time  before  his  tragic  end,  the  noble  and  patriotic  Gordon  sent  to 
Cairo  three  hatchets  or  stone  wedges  found  amongst  the  Niams-Niams,  who 
said  they  had  fallen  from  Heaven,  and  who  worsliippcd  them  with  supersti- 
tious rites  (/jV///.  Instilict  Egyp/icn,    1886,  No.  14). 

*  "  Museo  Moscardo,"  I'adova,  1656. 

*  According  to  M.  I'itre  de  Lisle,  the  Bretons  think  that  these  stcmes  vibrate 
at  every  clap  of  tluindcr. 


THE    STONE  AGE.  I7 

tion.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Mindanao  islands  call  these 
stones  the  teeth  of  the  thnnder  animal,  and  the  Japan- 
ese the  teeth  of  the  thnnder.^  In  Cambodia,  ^vol■ked 
stones,  celts,  adzes,  and  gouges  or  knives,  are  known 
as  thunder  stones.  A  Chinese  emperor,  who  lived  in 
the  eightli  century  of  our  era,  received  from  a  Buddhist 
[)riest  some  valuable  presents  which  the  donoi's  said 
had  been  sent  by  the  Lord  of  Heaven,  amongst  which 
were  two  flint  hatchets  called  loui-hong,  or  stones  of 
the  god  of  thunder.  In  Brazil  we  meet  with  the  same 
idea  in  the  name  of  corisco,  or  lightnings,  given  to 
worked  flints  ;  whilst  in  Italy,  by  an  exception  almost 
unique,  they  are  called  lingne  san  Paolo. 

May  we  not  also  attribute  to  the  worship  of  stones 
some  of  the  religious  and  funeral  rites  of  antiquity? 
According  to  Poi'phyry,  Pythagoras,  on  his  ari'ival  on 
the  island  of  Crete,  was  purified  with  thunder-stones 
by  the  dactyl  priests  of  Mount  Ida.  The  Etruscans 
wore  flint  arrow-heads  on  their  collars.  They  were 
sought  after  by  the  Magi,  and  the  Indians  gave  them 
an  honored  place  in  their  temples.  According  to 
Herodotus,  the  Arabs  sealed  their  engagements  by 
making  an  incision  in  their  hands  with  a  sharp  stone ; 
in  Egypt  the  body  of  a  corpse  before  being  embalmed 
was  opened  with  a  flint  knife ;  a  similai*  implement 
was  used  by  the  Hebrews  for  the  rite  of  circumcision ; 
and  it  was  also  with  cut  stones  that  the  priests  of 
Cybele  inflicted  self-mutilation  in  memory  of  that  of 
Atys.  At  Rome  the  stone  hatchet  was  dedicated  to 
Jupiter  Latialis,  and  solemn  treaties  were  ratified  by 
the  sacrifice  of  a  pig,  the  throat  of  which  was  cut  mth 
a  sharp  flint.     According  to  Virgil,  this  custom  was 

'  Roulin  :  Acad,  dcs Sciences ,  December  28,  1868. 


1 8  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

handed  down  to  the  ancient  Romans  l^y  tlie  uncouth 
nation  of  the  Equicoles.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
Christian  era,  the  heroes  commemorated  by  Ossian 
still  had  in  the  centre  of  tlieli'  shields  a  polished  stone 
consecrated  by  the  Druids,  and  a  saga  maintains  that 
the  ceraunia  assured  certain  victory  to  their  owners. 
On  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  the  Aztecs  used 
obsidian  blades  for  the  sacrifices,  in  which  hundreds  of 
human  victims  perished  miserably  ;  and  similar  blades 
are  used  by  the  Guanches  of  Teneriff'e  to  open  the 
bodies  of  their  chiefs  after  death.  At  the  present  day, 
the  Albanian  Palikares  use  pointed  flints  to  cut  the 
flesh  off  the  shoulder-blade  of  a  sheep  with  a  \\e\x  to 
seeking  in  its  fibres  the  secrets  of  the  future,  and  when 
the  god  Gima\vong  visits  his  temple  of  Labode,  on  the 
western  coast  of  Africa,  his  worshippers  offer  him  a 
bull  slain  with  a  stone  knife.  Lumholtz,^  in  the  second 
of  his  recent  explorations  in  Queensland,  tells  us  that 
the  natives  still  use  stone  weapons,  varying  in  form 
and  in  the  handles  used,  and  that  the  weapons  of  the 
Australians  living  near  Darling  River,  as  well  as  those 
of  the  Tasmaniaus,  are  without  handles. 

During  the  first  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  strange 
rites  were  still  performed  in  honor  of  dolmens  and 
menhirs.  The  councils  of  the  Church  condemned 
them,  and  the  emperors  and  kings  supported  by  their 
authority  the  decrees  of  the  ecclesiastics.'  Childebert 
in  554,  Cai'loman  in  742,  Charlemagne  by  an  edict 
issued  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  in  789,^  forbid  their  subjects 
to  practise  these  rites  borrowed  from  heathenism.     But 

'  "  Congres  d' Anthropologic  et  d'Archeologie  Prehistorique,"  Paris,  1889. 
''Council  of  Aries  in  452,  of  Tours  in   567,  of  Nantes  in  658,  of  Toledo  in 
681  and  692,  and  of  Leptis  in  743. 

^Baluze:   "  Capitularia  Regum  Francorum,"  vol.  i.,  pp.  51S,  1234,  1237. 


THF   STONE  AGE.  10 

popes  and  emperors  are  alike  powerless  In  this  direc- 
tion, and  one  generation  transmits  its  traditions  and 
superstitions  to  another.  In  the  seventeenth  century 
a  Pi'otestant  missionary  called  in  the  aid  of  the  secular 
arm  to  destroy  a  superstition  deeply  rooted  in  the 
minds  of  his  people;  in  England,  sorcerers  \vei"e  pro- 
ceeded against  for  having  used  flint  arrow-heads  in 
their  pretended  witchcraft ;  in  Sweden,  a  polished 
hatchet  was  placed  in  the  bed  of  women  in  the  pangs 
of  labor ;  in  Burmah,  thunder-stones  reduced  to  powder 
were  looked  upon  as  an  infallible  cure  for  ophthalmia; 
and  the  Canaches  have  a  collection  of  stones  with  a 
special  superstition  connected  with  each.  But  why 
seek  examples  so  far  away  and  in  a  past  so  lemote? 
In  our  own  day  and  in  our  own  laud  we  find  men  who 
think  themselves  invulnerable  and  their  cattle  safe  if 
they  are  fortunate  enough  to  possess  a  polished  flint. 

Prehistoric  times  are  generally  divided  into  three 
epochs — the  Stone  Age,  the  Bronze  Age,  and  the  Iron 
Age.  We  owe  this  classification  to  the  ai'chaeologists 
of  Northern  Europe.'  It  is  neither  very  exact  nor 
very  satisfactory,  and  fresh  discoveries  daily  tend  to 
unsettle  it.*  Alsberg  maintained  that  iron  was  the 
first  metal  used,  founding  his  contention  on  the  scai'city 
of  tin,  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  alloys,  and  on  the 
sixty-one  iron  foundries  of  Switzerland  which  may  date 
from  prehistoric  times.  The  rarity  of  the  discovery 
of  iron  objects,  he  urged,  is  accounted  for  })y  the  ease 
with  which  such  oljjects  are  destroyed  by  rust.  There 
has  never  been  a  Bronze  or  an  Iron  age  in  America,  so 

'  Steenstrup,  Forchammer,  Thomsen,  Worsaae,  and  Nillsson.  The  commis- 
sion appointed  by  the  Copenhagen  Academy  of  Sciences  presented  six  reports 
on  the  subject  between  1850  and  1S56. 

*  "  Die  Anfang  des  Eisens  Cultur,"  Berlin,  1886. 


20 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


that  it  would  seem  very  doubtful  wlietlier  all  races 
went  through  the  same  cycles  of  development.  I  my- 
self prefer  the  division  into  the  Palceolithic  period, 
when  men  only  used  roughly  chipped  stones,  and  the 
NeolithiG  period,  wlien  they  carefully  polished  their 
stone  weapons.  "There  may"  says  Alexander  Ber- 
trand,^  "be  one  imuuitable  law  for  the  succession  of 
strata  throughout  the  entire  crust  of  the  eaitli,  but 
there  is  no  corresponding  law   applicable^   to   liuman 


Fig.  2. — Copper  hatchets  found  in  Hungan',  and  now  in  the  National  Museum 

of  Budapest. 

aofoflomerations  or  to  the  succession  of  the  strata  of 
civilization.  It  would  be  a  very  grave  error  to  adopt 
the  theory  according  to  which  all  human  races  have 
passed  through  the  same  phases  of  development  and 
have  gone  through  the  same  complete  series  of  social 
conditions." 

It  may  perhaps  be  convenient  to  introduce  a  fourth 
period  when  copper  alone  was  used  and  our  ancestors 
were  still  ignorant  of  the  alloys  necessary  for  the  pro- 

'  "  Archeologie  Celtique  et  Gauloise,"  p.  46. 


THE   STONE  AGE.  21 

ductioii  of  bronze.  Hesiod.  speaks  of  a  third  genera- 
tion of  men  as  possessing  copper  only,  and  altliougli  it 
does  not  do  to  attach  undue  importance  to  isolated 
facts,  recent  discoveries  in  the  Cevennes,  in  Spain,  in 
Hungary,  and  elsewhere,  appear  to  confirm  the  exist- 
ence of  an  age  of  cojjper  (Fig.  2).  We  may  add  that 
the  mounds  of  North  America  contain  none  but  copper 
implements  and  ornaments,  witnesses  of  a  time  when 
that  metal  alone  was  known  either  on  the  shores  of 
the  Atlantic  or  of  the  Pacific  ^  (Fig.  3). 

It  is  impossible  to   fix  the  duration   of  the  Stone 
age.      It    began    with    man,    it   lasted    for    countless 


Fig.  3. — Copper  beads,  from  Connett's  Mound,  Ohio  (natural  size). 

centuries,  and  we  find  it  still  prevailing  amongst  certain 
races  who  set  their  faces  against  all  progress.  The 
scenes  sculptured  upon  Egyptian  monuments  dating 
from  the  ancient  Empire  represent  the  employment  of 
stone  weapons,  and  their  use  was  continued  throughout 
the  time  of  the  Lagidae  and  even  into  that  of  the 
Roman  domination.  A  few  years  ago,  on  the  shores 
of  the  Nile,  I  saw  some  of  the  common  people  shave 

•  Dr.  Much  :  "  L'Age  de  Cuivre  en  Europe  et  son  Rapport  avec  la  Civilisa- 
tion des  Indo-Germains,"  Vienna,  1886.  Pulsky  :  "Die  Kupfer  Zeit  im  Un- 
garn,"  Budapest,  1884.  Cartailhac  :  "Ages  Prehistoriques  de  I'Espagne  et  du 
Portugal,"  p.  211.  E.  Chantre  :  Mat.,  June,  1887;  and  Berthelot  :  Journal 
des  Savanls,  September,  1889. 


22  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

their  heads  with  stone  razors,  and  the  Bedouins  of 
Gournah  using  spears  headed  with  pointed  flints.  The 
Ethiopians  in  the  suite  of  Xerxes  had  none  but  stone 
weapons,  and  yet  their  civilization  was  several  centuries 
older  than  that  of  the  Persians.  The  excavations  on 
the  site  of  Alesia  yielded  many  stone  weapons,  the 
glorious  relics  of  the  soldiers  of  Vercingetorix.  At 
Mount  Beuvray,  on  the  site  of  Bibracte,  flint  hatchets 
and  weapons  have  been  discovered  associated  with 
Gallic  coins.  At  Rome,  M.  de  Rossi  collected  similar 
objects  mixed  with  the  ^Ea  rude.  Flint  hatchets  are 
mentioned  in  the  life  of  St.  Eloy,  written  by  St.  Owen, 
and  the  Mei"o\  ingian  tombs  have  yielded  hundreds  of 
small  cut  flints,  the  last  offerings  to  the  dead.  William 
of  Poitiers  tells  us  that  the  English  used  stone  weapons 
at  the  battle  of  Hastings  in  1066,  and  the  Scots  led  by 
Wallace  did  the  same  as  late  as  1288.  Not  until  many 
centuries  after  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era  did 
the  Sarmatians  know  the  use  of  metals ;  and  in  the 
fourteenth  century  we  find  a  lace,  [)robably  of  African 
origin,  making  their  hatchets,  knives,  and  arrows  of 
stone,  and  tipping  their  Javelins  with  horn.  The 
Japanese,  moreover,  used  stone  weapons  and  imple- 
ments until  the  ninth  and  even  the  tenth  century  a.d. 
But  there  is  no  need  to  go  back  to  the  past  for 
examples.  The  Mexicans  of  the  present  day  use  ob- 
sidian hatchets,  as  their  fathers  did  before  them  ;  the 
Es(piimaux  use  nephi-itis  and  jade  vvea[)ons  with  Rem- 
ington rifles.  Nordenskiold  tells  us  that  the  Tchout- 
chis  know  of  no  weapons  but  those  made  of  stone  ; 
that  they  show  their  artistic  feeling  in  engravings  on 
bone,  very  similar  to  those  found  in  the  caves  of  the 
south   of  France.     In    1854,   the   Mqhavi,   an    Indian 


THE   STONE  AGE.  23 

tribe  of  the  Rio  C'olonulo  (California),  possessed  no 
metal  objects  ;  and  it  is  the  same  with  the  dwellers  on 
the  banks  of  the  Shingu  River  (Brazil),  the  Oyacoiilets 
of  French  Guiana,  and  many  other  wandering  and 
savage  races.  Pere  Pelitot  tells  us  that  the  natives 
living  on  the  banks  of  the  Mackenzie  River  are  still  in 
the  stone  age;  and  Schumacker  has  given  an  interest- 
ing example  of  the  manufacture  of  stone  weapons  by 
the  Klamath  Indians  dwelling  on  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific.  It  has  been  justly  said:  "The  Stone  age  is 
not  a  fixed  period  in  time,  but  one  phase  of  the  de- 
velopment of  the  human  race,  the  duration  of  which 
varies  according  to  the  environment  and  the  race."  ^ 

In  thus  limiting  our  idea  of  the  stone  age,  we  may 
conclude  that  alike  in  Europe  and  in  America,^  there 
has  been  a  period  when  metal  was  entirely  unknown, 
when  stones  were  the  sole  weapons,  the  sole  tools  of 
man,  when  the  cave,  for  which  he  had  to  dispute 
possession  with  l)ears  and  othei*  beasts  of  prey,  was 
his  sole  and  precarious  refuge,  and  when  clumsy  heaps 
of  stones  served  alike  as  temples  for  the  worship  of  his 
gods  and  sepulchral  monuments  in  honor  of  his  chiefs. 

Excavations  in  every  department  of  France  have 
yielded  thousands  of  worked  flints,  and  there  are  few 
more  intei'esting  studies  than  an  examination  of  the 
mural  map  in  the  Saint  Germain  Museum  on  which  are 
marked  with  scrupulous  exactitude  the  dwelling-places 
of  our  most  remote  ancestors,  and  the  megalithic  monu- 
ments \vhich  are  the  indestructible  memorials  of  our 
forefathers. 


'  Irenee  Cochut :  "  These  presentee  a  la  Faculte  de  The'ologie  Protestante 
de  Montauban." 

-  See  my  translation  of  the  author's  admirable  and  exhaustive  work  on 
"  Prehistoric  America,"  chapters  i.  and  iv. — Nancy  Bell. 


24  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

In  the  Crimea  were  picked  up  a  number  of  small 
flints  cut  into  the  shape  of  a  crescent  exactly  like  those 
found  in  the  Indies  and  in  Tunis,  and  the  Anthropo- 
logical Society  of  Moscow  has  introduced  us  to  a  Stone 
age  the  memory  of  which  is  preserved  in  the  tumuli 
of  Russia.  On  the  shores  of  Lake  Lagoda  have  been 
found  some  implements  of  argillaceous  schist,  in  Carelia 
and  in  Finland  tools  made  of  slate  and  schist,  often 
adorned  with  clumsy  figures  of  men  or  of  animals. 
The  rigor  of  the  climate  did  not  check  the  develop- 
ment of  the  human  race  ;  in  the  most  remote  times 
Lapland,  Nordland,  the  most  northerly  districts  of 
Scandinavia,  and  even  the  bitterly  cold  Iceland,  were 
peopled.  The  Exhibition  of  Paris,  1878,  contained 
some  stone  weapons  found  on  the  shores  of  the 
White  Sea. 

On  several  parts  of  the  coast  of  Denmark  we  meet 
with  mounds  of  au  elliptical  shape  and  about  nine  feet 
high,  with  a  hollow  in  the  centre,  marking  the  site  of 
a  prehistoric  dwelling.  It  was  not  until  about  1850 
that  the  true  nature  of  these  mounds  was  determined. 
Excavations  in  them  have  brought  to  light  knives,  hatch- 
ets, all  manner  of  stone,  horn,  and  bone  implements, 
fragments  of  pottery,  charred  ^vood,  with  the  bones 
of  mammals  and  birds,  the  skeletons  of  fishes,  the 
shells  of  oysters  and  cockles  buried  beneath  the  ashes 
of  ancient  hearths.  To  these  accumulations  the  cliar- 
acteiistic  name  of  Kitchenmiddings^  or  kitchen  refuse, 
has  been  given. 

Several  caves  have  recently  been  examined  in  Poland, 
one  of  which,  situated  near  Cracow,  appears  to  belong 
to  Palaeolithic  times.  Count  Zawiska  has  already 
given  an  account  of  his  interesting  discoveries  to  the 


THE   STONE  AGE,  25 

Prehistoric  Congress  at  Stockholm.  In  the  Wirzchow 
cave  he  identified  seven  different  hearths,  and  took  out 
of  the  accumulations  of  cinders  various  amulets,  clumsy 
representations  of  fish  cut  in  ivory,  split  l)ones,  bears', 
wolves',  and  elks'  teeth  pierced  with  a  hole  for  thread- 
inij^,  and  more  than  four  thousand  stone  objects  of  a 
similar  type  to  those  found  in  Russia,  Scandinavia,  and 
Germany.  We  meet  with  similar  traces  of  successive 
habitation  in  a  cave  near  Ojcow ;  the  valuable  contents 
of  which  included  some  beautiful  flint  tools,  some  awls, 
bone  spatula,  and  some  gold  ornaments,  mixed,  in  the 
lower  of  the  heai'ths,  with  the  bones  of  extinct  animals, 
and  in  the  upper,  with  those  of  species  still  living. 

The  discoveries  made  in  the  Atter  See  and  in  the 
Salzburg  lakes  with  those  in  the  Moravian  caves  prove 
what  had  previously  l)eeu  very  stoutly  denied,  the  ex- 
istence in  those  districts  of  ancient  races  at  a  very 
remote  date. 

The  most  ancient  inhabitants  of  Hungary,  however, 
cannot  be  traced  further  back  than  to  Neolithic  times. 
In  that  country  have  been  found,  with  polished  stone 
implements,  thousands  of  objects  made  of  stag-horn, 
or  bone,  almost  all  without  exception  finely  finished 
oft'.  The  discovery  of  copper  tools  and  ornaments  of 
a  peculiar  form  in  the  Danubian  provinces,  bears  wit- 
ness to  a  distinct  civilization  in  those  districts,  and 
confirms  what  we  have  just  said  about  a  Copper  age. 

From  the  Lake  Stations  of  Austria  and  Hungary,  we 
pass  naturally  to  those  of  Switzerland.  We  shall  have 
to  introduce  to  our  readers  whole  villages  built  in  the 
midst  of  the  waters,  and  a  people  long  completely 
forgotten.  In  many  of  these  stations,  none  but  stone 
implements  have  been  found,  and  on  the  half-burnt 


26  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

piles  on  which  the  huts  had  been  set  up,  it  is  still  easy 
to  make  out  the  notches  cut  with  flint  hatchets. 

We  meet  with  similar  pile  dwellings,  as  these  struc- 
tures are  called,  in  France,  Ital\',  Germany,  Ireland, 
and  England,  for  iwnw  the  earliest  times  man  was  con- 
stantly engaged  in  sanguinary  contests  with  his  fellow- 
men,  and  souirht  in  the  midst  of  the  waters  a  refufi;e 
fi'oin  the  ever  [)resent  dangers  surrounding  him. 

The  dis(;overies  made  in  Belgium  must  be  ranked 
amongst  the  most  important  in  Eui'0[)e,  and  we  shall 
often  have  occasion  to  refer  to  tliem.  Holland,  on 
the  other  hand,  having  much  of  it  been  under  the 
sea  for  so  long,  yields  nothing  to  our  researches 
but  a  few  arrow-heads,  hatchets,  and  knives  made 
of  quartz  oi-  diorite,  and  all  of  them  of  the  coarsest 
workmanshijt. 

No  less  fruitfid  in  resuhs  to  [)i'ehistoric  science  are 
the  researches  made  in  the  south  of  Europe.  Tlie  con- 
gress that  met  at  Bologna,  in  1871,  showed  us  tliat  in 
the  Transalpine  provinces  man  was  witness  of  those 
physical  phenomena  Avliich  gave  to  Italy  its  pi'esent 
configuration  ;  and  the  exhi]:)ition  in  connection  with 
the  congress  enabled  us  to  ix^t  a  £rood  idea  of  the 
primitive  industry  whicli  lias  left  relics  behind  it  in 
every  district  of  the  ])eninsula. 

Some  hatchets  of  a  similar  type  to  the  most  ancient 
foun<l  in  France  were  dug  out  of  a  graA'cl  j)it  at  San 
Isidro  on  the  borders  of  the  Manyanaivs,  associated 
with  the  bones  of  a  huge  elephant  that  has  long,  been 
extinct ;  and  a  cave  has  recently  been  discovered  near 
Madrid  fi"om  Avhich  wei'e  dug  out  nearly  five  hundred 
skeletons,  the  greater  number  thickly  coated  with 
stalagmite.     Near  the  bodies  lay  several  flint  weapons, 


THE    STONE   AGE.  2/ 

and  some  fragineuts  of  pottery.'  Cartailhac  tells  us  of 
similar  discovei'ies  iu  various  parts  of  Portugal/^'  The 
caves  of  Santander  have  yielded  Avorked  bones  and 
barbed  harpoons;  and  those  of  Castile,  various  objects 
resembling  those  of  the  Reindeer  period  of  France.  It 
is,  howevei',  an  interesting  and  ini[)ortant  fact  that  the 
reindeer  never  crossed  the  Pyrenees.  Although  so  far 
excavations  have  been  anything  but  complete,  we  are 
already  able  to  assert  that  during  Pala3olithic  times  the 
ancient  Iberia  was  occu[)ied  by  races  whose  industrial 
development  was  similar  to  that  of  modern  Euro})e. 

It  will  be  well  t(^  mention  also  the  excavations  made 
on  the  slopes  of  Mount  Hymettus,  and  in  the  evei-- 
f anions  plains  of  Marathon.  Finlay  has  bi'ought  to- 
gether in  Greece  a  very  interesting  collection  of  stone 
weapons  and  implements  which  he  picked  u[)  in  great 
numbers  at  the  base  of  the  Acropolis  of  Athens.  All 
these  discoveries  prove  the  existence  of  man  at  a  time 
about  which  but  yesterday  nothing  was  known,  and  to 
which  it  is  difficult  as  yet  to  give  a  name,  this  existence 
being  proved  by  the  most  irrefragable  of  evidence,  the 
work  of  his  own  hands. 

Although  the  proofs  of  there  having  been  a  Stone 
age  in  Western  Europe  are  a})solutely  convincing,  it  is 
difficult  to  feel  equally  sure  with  regard  to  the  poi'tions 
of  the  globe  where  so  many  districts  are  closed  to  the 
explorer.  Everywhere,  however,  where  excavations 
have  been  made,  tliey  have  yielded  the  most  remarka- 
ble results.  M.  de  Ujfalvy  has  bi'ought  diorite  and 
serpentine  hatchets   and    wedges   from   the    south   of 

'  Academic  des  Sciences,  May  23,  1881  ;   "  Antiquite's  clu  Musee  de  Minous- 
sink,"  Tomsk,  1886-7. 

■^  "  Les  Ages  Prehistoriques  en  Espagne  et  en  Portugal." 


28  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

Siberia,  and  Count  Ouvaroif  tells  us  of  a  Quaternary 
deposit,  the  only  one  known  at  present  at  Irkutsk,  in 
Eastern  Siberia,  containing  cut  flints.  Near  Tobolsk, 
Poliaskoff  found  some  beautifully  worked  stones. 
Other  archaeologists  tell  us  of  having  found,  in  the 
east  of  the  Ural  Mountains  and  on  the  shores  of  the 
Joswa,  hammers,  hatchets,  pestles,  nuclei  the  shape  of 
polygonal  prisms,  and  round  or  long  pieces  of  flint,  all 
pierced  ^vith  a  central  hole,  which  are  sujjposed  to  have 
been  spindle  whorls.  Lastly,  Klementz  tells  us  that 
the  lofty  valleys  of  the  Yenesei  and  its  tributaries 
were  inhabited  in  the  most  remote  times  by  races  who 
developed  a  special  civilization. 

At  the  other  extremity  of  the  great  Asiatic  conti- 
nent, a  deposit  of  cindei's  found  at  the  enti-ance  of  a 
cave  near  the  Nahr  el  Kelb  yielded  some  flint  knives 
or  scrapers,  and  more  recently  a  prehistoric  station 
has  been  made  out  at  Hanoweh,  a  little  village  of 
Lebanon,  east  of  Tyre.  The  flints  are  of  primitive 
shapes,  not  unlike  the  most  ancient  forms  found  in 
France.  They  were  discovered  in  a  mass  of  debris  of 
all  kinds,  forming  a  very  hard  conglomerate.  Some 
teeth,  which  had  belonged  to  animals  of  the  bovidsB, 
cervida3,  and  equidse  groups,  were  got  out  with  con- 
siderable difficulty,  but  the  bones  in  the  conglomerate 
were  too  nuich  broken  up  to  be  identified.  Worked 
flints  and  arrow-  or  spear-heads  were  also  found  in  con- 
siderable quantities  in  various  parts  of  the  table-land 
of  Sinai,  and  at  the  openings  of  the  caves  in  which  the 
ancient  inhabitants  took  refuge.  It  was  with  stone 
tools  that  these  people  worked  the  mines  riddling  the 
sides  of  the  mountains,  and  it  is  still  easy  to  make  out 
traces  of  their  operations. 


THE   STONE  AGE.  29 

We  have  already  alluded  to  Japan  ;  for  a  long  time 
the  barbarian  Ainos,  the  earliest  inhabitants  of  the 
country,  were  acquainted  with  nothing  but  stone. 
Flint  arrows  were  presented  t(^  the  Emperor  Wu-Wang 
eleven  hundred  years  befoi*e  our  era ;  the  annals  of  one 
of  the  ancient  dynasties  speak  of  flint  weapons,  and 
an  encyclopaedia  published  in  the  reign  of  the  Em- 
peror Kang-Hi  speaks  of  rock  hatchets,  some  l^lack  and 
some  green,  and  all  alike  dating  from  the  most  remote 
antiquity. 

Agates  worked  by  the  hand  of  man  are  found  in 
great  quantities  in  the  bone  l)eds  of  the  Grodavery. 
Some  javelin  heads  in  sandstone,  basalt,  and  quartz, 
with  scrapers  and  knives,  most  of  them  flat  on  one  side 
and  rounded  on  the  other,  appear  to  be  even  more 
ancient  than  the  agate  implements.  Some  of  the  celts 
resemble  those  of  European  type,  others  the  flint 
weapons  found  in  Egypt,  and  the  clumsiest  forms  may 
be  compared  to  those  still  in  use  amongst  the  natives 
of  Australia.  We  may  also  mention  a  somewhat  rare 
type  lately  discovered  in  the  island  of  Melas,  which 
have  been  characterized  as  saw-bladed  knives.  A  letter 
from  Rivett-Carnac  announces  the  discovery  of  weapons 
and  stone  implements  in  Banda,  a  wild  mountain  dis- 
trict on  the  northwest  of  India.  The  scrapers,  he  says, 
strangely  resemble  those  of  the  Esquimaux,  and  the 
arrow-heads  those  of  the  most  ancient  inhabitants  of 
America.^ 

Many  megalithic  monuments  are  met  with  in  [)laces 
widely  removed  fi'om  each  other  in  the  vast  Indian 
Empire.     Captain  Congreve,  after  describing  the  cairns 

^  "  Stone  Implements  from  the  Northwestern  Provinces  of  India,"  yournal 
of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  Calcutta,  1S83. 


30  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

with  their  rows  of  stones  ranged  in  circles,  the  kist- 
vaens  or  dohuens,  the  huge  rocks  phiced  erect  as  at 
Stonehenge,  the  barrows  hollowed  out  of  tlie  cliffs, 
declares  with  undis^-uised  astonishment  that  there  is 
not  a  Druidical  monument  of  whicli  he  had  not  seen 
the  counterpart  in  the  Neilgherry  Mountains.^ 

General  Faidhei'be  divides  Africa  into  two  distinct 
regions — one  north  of  the  Great  Desert,  where  the 
inhabitants  and  the  fauna  and  flora  have  all  alike  cer- 
tain characteristics  in  conunon  with  those  of  Eui*o[)e  ; 
and  tbe  other  south  of  the  Sahara,  which  was  at  one 
time  separated  from  that  in  the  north  by  a  vast  inland 
sea.  In  this  southern  reo-iou  we  are  in  Nio^ritia,  or  the 
Africa  of  the  negroes,  where  the  inhabitants  in  theii* 
physical  characteristics  and  in  their  language,  the 
mammals,  and  the  plants,  differ  altogether  from  those 
of  the  north.  In  one  point,  however,  these  two  I'egions 
resemble  each  other  :  in  l)oth  we  I'ecoguize  a  Stone 
age,  which  existed  in  Algeria  and  in  Egypt,  as  well  as 
on  the  banks  of  the  Senegal  and  at  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  The  valley  of  the  Nile  from  Cairo  to  Assouan 
has  yielded  a  series  of  objects  in  flint,  poi-ph^ny,  and 
hornblendic  I'ock,  retaining  traces  of  human  workman- 
ship, and  reminding  us  of  similar  implements  of  Euro- 
j^ean  type.  These  objects,^'  sa3^s  M.  Arcelin,  are  always 
found  either  beneath  modern  deposits  or  at  the  surface 
of  the  upper  })lateaux  at  the  highest  point  to  which 
the  river  rises  ;  nothing  has,  however,  been  found  in 
the  alluvial  deposits  of  the  Nile,  in  spite  of  the  most 
persevering  seai-ch.     At  the  Prehistoric  Congress  held 


'  Liic7-arv  yotirnal  of  Madras,  \'i)l.  xiv. 

^  "  L'Age  de   Pierre  et  la  Classification   Prehistorique   d'apres    les    Sources 
Egyptiennes,"  Paris,  1S79. 


'1  HE    STONK  AGE.  3 1 

at  Stockholm,  some  worked  iliiits  were  produced  that 
had  been  found  in  the  Lil)yan  Desert.  This  once 
inhabited  district,  now  without  water  or  vegetation, 
can  only  be  reached  at  the  present  day  with  the 
gi'eatest  difficulty.  Is  not  this  yet  another  pi'oof  of 
the  great  changes  which  have  taken  place  since  the 
advent  of  man  ?  Lastly,  the  Boulak  Museum  contains 
a  whole  series  of  stone  weapons  and  implements,  show- 
ing in  their  workmanship  a  progressive  development 
similar  to  that  w^e  find  in  Eui'ope.  Many  archaeologists 
aj'e  of  opinion  that  the  worked  flints  found  in  the  plains 
of  Lower  Lgy[)t  date  from  Neolithic  times.  Those 
alone  are  Paheolithic  which  have  been  found  in  a 
deposit  hard  enough  for  the  hollowing  out  of  tombs, 
which  are  certaiidy  earlier  than  the  eighteenth  dynasty. 
We  must  add,  however,  that  neither  ^vith  the  Palaeo- 
lithic nor  with  the  Neolithic  relics  have  l)een  found 
any  bones  of  extinct  animals.  Some  savants  go  yet 
fui'ther  :  they  thiidv  that  these  worked  stones  are  but 
chi[)s  split  olf  by  the  heat  of  the  sun.^  A  [)henomenon 
of  this  kind  is  mentioned  by  Desor  and  Escher  de  la 
Linth  in  the  Sahai'a  Desert ;  Fraas  quotes  a  similar 
observation  made  l)y  Livingstone  in  the  heart  of  Africa, 
and  one  by  Wetzstein,  wh(\  not  far  from  Damascus, 
saw  hard  basalt  I'ocks  split  under  the  influence  of  the 
early  moi'uiug  freshness.  I  have  myself  noticed  similar 
phenomena  in  the  Nile  valley,  l)ut  it  must  be  added 
that  the  fragments  of  rock  broken  ofl'  by  the  combined 
influence  of  heat  and  humidity  pi'eseut  very  notable 
differences  to  those  woi'ked  l)y  the  hand  of  man,  and 
cannot  really  l)e  mistaken  for  them. 


'  Pitt  Rivers ;  "  Oii  the  Discovery  of  Chert  Implements  in  the  Nile  Valley," 
British  Association,  Vork,  iS8i. 


32  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

In  Algeria  have  been  preserved  some  most  interest- 
ing relics  of  prehistoric  times.     If  I  am  not  mistaken, 
Worsaae  was  the  first  to  note  the  worked  stones  in  the 
French  possessions  in  Africa.     They  have  been  picked 
up  in  great  numbers,  especially  near  the  watercourses 
at  which  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  country  slaked 
their  thirst,  as  do  their  descendants  at  the  present  day. 
Tlie  exploration  of  the  Sahara  daily  yields  unexpected 
discoveries ;  and  already  fifteen  different  stations  for- 
mei'ly  inhabited  by  man  have  been  made  out.    In  those 
remote  days  a  large  river  flowed  near  Wargla,  which 
was  then  an  important  centre,  and  a  number  of  tools 
picked  up  bear  witness  to  the  former  presence  of  an 
active  and  industrious  population.     At  one  ])lace  the 
flint  implements,  arrow-heads,  knives,  and  scrapers  are 
all  of  a  very  primitive  type,  and  were  found  sorted 
into   piles.     This    was    evidently    a    depot^   probably 
forming  the  reserve  stock  of   the  tribe.     Wargla  or 
perhaps  Golea  at  one  time  appears  to  have  been  the 
extreme  limit  of  the  Stone  age  in  Algeria,  but  quite 
recently  traces  of  primitive  man  have  been  discovered 
amongst  the  Tuaregs.     These  relics  are  hatchets  made 
of  black  rock,  and  arrow-heads  not  luilike  those  which 
the  Arabs  attribute  to  the  Djinn  ;  but  as  we  approach 
the  south  we  find  the  flints  picked  up  more  clumsily 
and  unskilfully  cut — a  proof  that  they  were  the  work 
of  a  more  barbarous  people  with  less  practical  skill. 
It  is  the  niegalithic  monuments  of  Algeria,  of  which 
we  shall  speak  more  in  detail  presently,  that  are  the 
most  woi'thy  of  attention.     As  in  India,  we  meet  with 
them  in  thousands,  and  in  certain  parts  of  the  conti- 
nent  they  extend   for   considerable   distances.     They 
consist  of  long,  square,  circular,  or  oval  enclosures — 


THE  STONE  AGE.  33 

dolmens  similar  to  those  of  Western  Europe, — and 
almost  always  surrounded  by  circles  of  upright  stones. 
The  silence  of  historians  respecting  them  need  not 
make  us  doubt  their  extreme  antiquity,  for  did  it  not 
take  a  very  long  time  to  induce  the  scientific  men  of 
our  day  to  turn  their  attention  to  Algeria  at  all  ? 

The  exploration  of  Tunisia  has  enabled  us  to  study 
the  Stone  age  in  that  district,  and  a  few  years  ago  it 
was  announced  that  nearly  three  thousand  objects  of 
different  types  had  been  found  in  thirteen  different 
localities.^  My  son  found  near  Gabes  an  immense 
number  of  small  worked  flints  not  unlike  a  human 
nail,  the  origin  and  use  of  which  no  one  has  been  able 
to  determine.  The  association  of  weapons  and  imple- 
ments roughly  finished  off,  with  chips  and  stones  still 
in  the  natural  state,  bears  witness  to  the  existence  at 
one  time  of  workshops  of  some  importance.  The 
recent  discoveiies  of  Collignon  correspond  with  those 
in  Algei'ia,  and  complete  our  knowledge  of  the  basin 
of  the  Mediterranean. 

In  the  Cave  of  Plercules,  in  Morocco,  which  Pompo- 
nius  Mela  spoke  of  as  of  great  antiquity  in  his  day, 
have  been  found  a  great  many  worked  flints,  such  as 
knives  and  arrow-heads.  We  shall  refer  later  to  the 
important  monument  of  Mzora  and  the  menhirs  sur- 
rounding it,  the  builders  of  which  certainly  belonged 
to  a  i-ace  that  lived  much  nearer  our  own  day  than  did 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Cave  of  Hercules. 

The  south  of  Afi'ica  is  not  so  well  known  as  the 
north,  and  the  diflftculty  of  making  explorations  is  a 
great  obstacle  to  progress.     For  some  centuries,  how- 

'  Belluci  :    "  L'Eta  della  Pietra  in    Tunisia,"  Roma,    1876,   Bol.   della   Soc 
Geog.  I  tali  a  It  a,  1S76. 
3 


34  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

ever,  polished  stone  Latchets  from  the  extreme  south 
of  the  continent  have  been  preserved  in  the  museums 
of  Leyden  and  Copenhagen,  under  tlie  name  of  thunder- 
stones,  or  stones  of  God.  A  great  many  are  found  in 
British  South  Africa,  especially  at  Graham^s  Town  and 
Table  Bay/  Gooch,  after  describing  the  physical  con- 
figuration of  the  Cape,  says  that  stone  implements  are 
found  in  all  the  terraces  at  whatevei'  level  of  the  Qua- 
ternaiy  deposits.  With  these  stone  ol)jects  were  found 
a  good  many  fragments  of  coarse  hand-made  pottery, 
that  had  been  merely  baked  in  the  sun,  and  was 
strengthened  with  good-sized  pieces  of  quartz.  Similar 
peculiarities  are  noticed  in  ancient  European  potteiy. 
We  shall  have  to  refer  again  to  these  singular  analo- 
gies, one  of  the  chief  aims  of  this  book  being  to  bring 
them  into  notice. 

In  the  torrid  regions  between  the  Vaal  and  the 
Zambezi  rivers,  we  find  traces  of  a  race  of  a  civilization 
different  from  that  of  the  savages  conquered  by  the 
English.  At  Natal  the  gradual  progress  of  these  un- 
known people  can  be  traced  step  by  step.  To  the 
earliest  pei-iod  of  all  belong  nothing  but  I'oughly  hewn 
flints,  and  no  traces  of  pottery  have  been  found  ;  then 
follow  flint  arrow-heads  of  more  distinct  foi'm,  and  here 
and  there  fragments  of  sun-dried  pottery.  Of  more 
recent  date  still  are  polished  stone  weapons  and  more 
finely  moulded  pottery ;  whilst  to  the  latest  date  of  all 
belong  weapons  of  considerable  vai'iety  of  form,  l)etter 
adapted  to  the  needs  of  nuui,  and  witli  these  wea[)ons 
were  found  ]nige  stone  mortars  wliich  had  been  used 
for  crushing  grain,  and  ])ear  witness  to  the  use  of 
vegetable  diet. 

'  "  The  Stone  Age  uf  Suulli  Africa,"  Joiini.  Anth.  Iiistiiittc,  iSSi. 


THE    STONE   AGE.  35 

We  also  meet  with  important  ruins  in  tlie  Transvaal. 
Some  walls  are  still  standing  wliicli  are  thirty  feet 
high  and  ten  thick,  forming  imperishable  memorials  of 
the  past.  They  are  hiiilt  of  hnge  blocks  of  granite 
piled  up  without  cement.  We  know  nothing  of  those 
who  erected  them  ;  theii-  name  and  history  are  alike 
effaced  from  the  memory  of  man,  and  we  know  nothing 
either  of  their  ancestoi's  or  of  their  descendants. 

In  the  Antipodes  certain  curions  discoveries  point 
to  the  existence  of  man  in  those  I'emote  and  mysterious 
tiines,  to  which,  for  \vaut  of  a  bettei-,  we  give  in  Europe 
the  name  of  the  Age  of  the  Mammoth  and  the  Rein- 
deei' ;  and  everything  points  to  the  conclusion  that 
man  a[)peared  in  the  different  divisions  of  the  eai'th 
about  the  same  time.  Probably  the  first  appearance 
of  our  race  in  Australia  was  prior  to  the  last  convul- 
sions of  nature  which  gave  to  that  continent  its  present 
configuration.  ''  Scientific  studies,"  says  M.  Blanchard,^ 
"  lead  us  to  believe  that  at  one  period  a  vast  continent 
rose  from  the  Pacific  Ocean,  which  continent  was  broken 
up,  and  to  a  gi'eat  extent  sul)merged,  in  convulsions  of 
nature.  New  Zealand  and  the  neighboring  islands  are 
relics  of  this  great  land." 

In  tlie  Corrio  Mountains  in  New  Zealand,  at  a 
height  of  nearly  4,921  feet  above  the  sea-level, 
have  been  found  fiints  sha[)ed  ])y  the  hand  of  man, 
associated  w^ith  a  number  of  bones  of  the  Dinoruis,  the 
largest  known  ])ird.  Other  facts  l)ear  witness  to  an 
extinct  civilization,  which  we  believe  to  have  been 
extremely  ancient,  but  to  which,  in  the  present  state  of 
our  knowledge,  it  is  impossible  to  assign  a  date.  In  the 
island  of  Tonga-Taboo,  one  of  the  Friendly  group,  is  a 

'  Revue  des  Deux- Motid,;s,  March  i,  1S78. 


36  PREHlSTOklC  PEOPLES. 

remarkable  megalith,  the  base  of  which  rests  on  up- 
rights thii'ty  feet  high,  and  supports  a  colossal  stone 
bowl  which  is  no  less  than  thirteen  feet  in  diameter  by 
one  in  heiirht.  In  the  same  island  is  a  trilithon  con- 
sisting  of  a  ti'ansverse  bar  resting  on  two  pillars  pro- 
vided with  mortises  for  its  reception.  The  })illars 
Aveigh  sixty-five  tons,  and  a  local  tradition  affirms  that 
the  coralline  conglomerate  out  of  which  they  were 
hewn  was  brought  from  Wallis  Island,  more  than  a 
thousand  miles  oif.  It  is  difficult  to  explain^  how  the 
makers  of  this  trilithon  managed  to  transpoi't,  to  ^vork^ 
and  to  place  such  masses  in  position.  In  a  neighbor- 
ing island  a  circle  of  u[)lifted  stones,  covering  an  ai"ea 
of  several  hundred  yards,  reminds  us  of  the  cromlechs 
of  Brittany.  The  so-called  Burial-Mound  of  Oberea  at 
Otaheite,  if  it  really  was  consti'ucted  ^vith  stone  tools,  is 
yet  more  curious.  Imagine  a  pyi'amid  of  which  the 
base  is  a  long  square,  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet  long 
by  eighty-seven  wide.  It  is  forty-three  feet  high.  The 
top  is  reached  by  a  flight  of  steps  cut  in  the  coralline 
rock,  all  these  steps  being  of  the  same  size  and  perfectly 
squared  an<l  polished. "^ 

On  a  rock  at  the  entrance  to  the  port  of  Sydney  a 
kangaroo  is  sculptured.  In  Easter  Island  (Ra[)a-Nui) 
La  IV^rouse  discovered  a  nundjer  of  coarsely  executed 
bust  statues  (Fig.  4).  There  are  altogether  some  four 
liuiidi'<Ml  of  them,  foi'ming  groups  in  different  parts  of 
the  island.  The  excavations  conducted  by  Pinart  in 
1887  have  [)i'oved  these  figures  to  })e  se[)ulchral  monu- 
m(nits.  TI(^  managed  to  make  a  considerable  collection 
of  crania  and  human   ])ones.      Hound   about  the  ci'ater 


'  De  Quatrefages  :  Rev.  iV Elknoi^raphie,  1883,  p.  97,  etc. 
■■'  Sir  J.  Lubbock  :    "  I'rchisturic  Times,"  pp.  483,  549. 


Fig.  4. — Stone  statues  on  Easter  Island. 


3S  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

of  the  E,aua-E,arakn  volcano,  forty  of  these  figures  have 
been  counted,  all  of  a  similar  type,  all  cut  in  one  piece 
of  solid  trachyte  rock.  In  another  place  are  eighty 
busts  with  longer  noses  and  thicker  lips,  foi-miug  a 
grou[)  by  themselves.  The  lai'gest  of  them  is  some 
thirty-nine  feet  hifjh.  On  the  sides  of  the  volcano, 
scattered  about  amongst  the  statues,  have  been  picked 
up  a  considerable  number  of  knives,  scrapers,  and 
pointed  [)ieces  of  obsidian,  which  were  probably  tools 
thrown  away  by  the  sculptors  of  the  figures. 

These  monuments  and  sculptures  are  certainly  the 
work  of  a  race  ver}^  different  from  the  present  natives, 
who  are  altogether  incapable  of  producing  anything  of 
the  kind,  and  who  retain  aVjsolutely  no  ti'aditions  re- 
specting their  predecessors.  This  complete  oblivion, 
which  may  appear  rather  strange,  is  by  no  means  rare 
amongst  savage  races,  and  Sir  John  Lubbock  cites  a 
great  many  very  curious  examples.  "  Oral  traditions," 
says  Broca,  "  are  changed  and  distorted  by  each  suc- 
ceeding generation  ;  and  are  at  last  effaced  to  give  place 
to  others  as  transitoiy,  and  thus  the  most  important 
events  ai'e,  sooner  or  later,  relegated  to  oblivion."  ^ 

We  have  dwelt  at  considerable  length  in  another 
volume  '  on  the  earliest  iuhal)itants  of  America.  Much 
still  remains  unknown  in  spite  of  the  considerable  and 
important  work  done  of  late  years.  The  very  name  of 
the  New  World  seems  to  be  altogether  out  of  place, 
America  being  as  old,  if  not  older,  than  an}'  continent 
of  the  Eastein  Hemisphere.  Lund  has  brought  for- 
ward weighty  reasons  for  his  theory  that  the  central 
plateau  of  Bi'azil  was  already  a  countr}-  when  the  rest 

^  Ass.  f ran  false,  le  Havre,  1877.     Discottrs  d'Ouverture. 
"  "  Prehistoric  America,"  Paris,  New  \'ork,  and  London. 


The  stone  age. 


39 


of  the  continent  was  still  subniei-ged  or  at  least  repre- 
sented merely  by  a  few  small  islets.  This  theory,  how- 
ev'er,  even  if  it  could  be  al)solutely  pi'oved,  would  not 
help  us  to  fix  the  date  of  the  earliest  pi-esence  of  man 
in  America,  still  less  to  say  by  what  route  he  arrived 
there. 

Certain  facts,  amongst  which  I  would,  in  the  first 
place,  quote  the  discoveries  of  Dr.  Abbott  in  the  alhivial 
deposits  of  the  Delaware  and  those  recently  announced 


Fig.  5.— Fort  Hill,  Ohio. 

in  Nevada,^  prove  the  contemporaneity  of  men  like  our- 
selves with  the  great  edentate  and  pachydei-matous 
mammals,  which  were  the  most  characteristic  creatures 
of  the  Amei'ican  fauna.  The  prehistoi-ic  inhabitants 
of  Noi'th  America  were  familiar  with  the  mastodon, 
those  of  South  America  with  the  glyptodon,  the  shell 
of  which  on  occasion  sei'ved  as  a  roof  to  the  dwelling 
of  primeval  man,  which  dwelling  was  often  but  a  den 

'  See  my  translation   of    "  L'Anierique    Prehistorique,"    chap,  i.,    "  Man  and 
the  Mastodon." — Nancy  Bell. 


40 


PREHISTORTC  PEOPLES. 


lioUowed  out  of  the  ground.  As  in  Europe,  tlie  early 
inhabitants  of  America  had  to  contend  mth  powerful 
mammals  and  fierce  carnivora;  and  in  the  West  as  in  the 
East  man  made  up  in  intelligence  for  his  lack  of  brute 
force,  and  however  formidable  an  animal  niicrht  be,  it 
was  condemned  to  submit  to,  or  disappear  l^efore,  its 
master.  In  course  of  time  Sedentary  replaced  Nomad 
races  ;  shell  heaps,  some  of  marine,  some  of  liverine 
and  lacustrine  species,  but  all  alike  mixed  with  a  great 


Fig.  6. — Group  of  sepulchral  mounds. 

vanety  of  ru])ljish,  were  gradually  piled  up  extending 
for  many  miles  and  cov^ering  many  acres  t)f  ground, 
bearing  witness  to  the  existence  of  a  population  already 
considei'a])le. 

In  other  parts  of  America  prehistoric  races  have  left 
behind  them  huge  earthworks,  lofty  masses  which  were 
probably  fortifications  (Fig.  5),  temples,  and  sepulchral 
monuments  (Fig.  G).  These  eai'thworks  extend  through- 
out North  America  from  the  Alleghany  Mountains  to 
the  Atlantic,  from   the  gi^eat  lakes  of  Canada  to  the 


THE   STONE  AGE. 


41 


Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  name  of  the  people  who  erected 
them  is  lost,  and  we  must  be  content  with  that  of 
Mound  Builders,  which  commemorate  their  vast  under- 
takings. 

At  a  period  probably  nearer  our  own,  Ai'izona  and 
New  Mexico  were  occupied  l)y  other  i-aces,  wlio  l)uilt 
the  so-called ^^^^^Zo-s",  Avliicli  were  regular  plialausteries, 


Fig.  7. — Ground  jilan  of  a  jnieblo  of  the  Mac-Elmo  Valley. 

or  communal  dwellings,  each  member  of  the  tribe 
havino:  to  be  content  with  one  wretched  little  cell 
(Fig.  7).  At  some  distance  from  the  men  of  the 
l^iiehlos  lived  the  Cliff  Dwellers,  about  whom  we  know 
next  to  nothing ;  a  few  stone  weapons  and  countless 
fragments  of  pottery  being  all  they  have  left  behind 
them.  These  men  established  themselves  in  situations 
whicli  are  now  inaccessible,  hewing  out  a  dwelling  in 


42 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


the  rocks  on  the  mountains 
(Figs.  8  and  9)  Avith  won- 
derful perseverance,  and 
closing  up  the  approaclies 
with  adobes  or  sun-dried 
bricks,  making  incredible 
efforts  to  obtain  for  their 
families  ^vhat  must  have 
been  at  the  best  but  a 
precarious  shelter/  These 
prehistoric  races  were  suc- 
^WV-'/-"  ceeded  in  America  l)y  the 
/'Mi  Toltecs,  Aztecs,  C'hibcas, 
and  Peruvians,  all  known 
in  history,  though  their 
orisi'iu  is  as  much  involved 
in  obscurity  as  that  of  their 
predecessors.  Temjjles,  pal- 
aces, and  magnificent  monu- 
ments tell  of  the  Avealth 
which  gold  gives,  a  wealth, 
alas,  Avhich  also  enervated 
the  vital  forces,  so  that  the 
Spanish  and  Portuguese 
met  with  l)ut  little  serious 
resistance  in  their  rapid 
cou(piests. 

Sucli   are  the  facts  with 
which  we  have  to  deal.     In 


Fig.  8.- 


-Cliff-house  on  the  Rii 
Mancos. 


'  Many  interesting  details  respecting 
the  Cliff  Dwellers  are  given  in  De  Na- 
(laillac's  "  L'Amerique  Prehistorique," 
chap.  V. — Nancy  Bell. 


'J-rfF.    STONE   ACE. 


43 


the  following  clinpters  we  shall  consider  more  at  length 
the  problems  they  present,  ])ut  already  we  are  led  to 
one  important  conclusion  :  in  every  part   <»f  the  globe, 


Y\v,.  g.  —  House  in  a  rock  of  the  Montezuma  Cafu 


in  every  latitude,  in  every  climate,  worked  flints, 
whether  l)ut  roughly  chipped  or  elaborately  polished, 
present  analogies  which  must  strike  the  most  superfi- 
cial observer.     "We  find  them,"  remarks  an  Amei'ican 


44  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

author,  "in  the  tumuli  of  Siberia,  iu  the  tombs  of  Egypt, 
in  the  soil  of  Greece,  beneath  the  rude  monuments  of 
Scandinavia ;  but  whether  they  come  from  Europe  or 
Asia,  from  Africa  or  America,  they  are  so  much  alike 
in  form,  in  material,  and  in  workmanship,  that  they 
might  easily  be  taken  for  the  work  of  the  same  men." 

At  a  meetino^  of  the  British  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science  in  1871,  Sir  John  Lubbock 
showed  worked  flints  from  Chili  and  New  Zealand 
with  others  found  in  England,  Germany,  Spain,  Aus- 
tralia, the  Gnianas,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Amazon ; 
which  one  and  all  belonged  to  the  same  type.  Moi'e 
recently  the  Anthropological  Society  of  Vienna  com- 
pared the  stone  hatchets  found  near  the  Canadian 
lakes  and  in  the  deserts  of  Uruguay,  with  others  from 
Catania  in  Italy,  Angermiinde  in  Brandenburg,  and  a 
tomb  in  Scandinavia,  deciding  that  they  were  all  ex- 
actly alike.  Lastly,  those  who  studied  at  the  French 
Exhibition  of  1878  the  hatchets,  hammers,  and  scrapers, 
the  bone  implements,  pottery,  and  weapons  brought 
from  diffei'ent  places,  the  inhabitants  of  which  had  no 
communication  with  each  other,  could  not  fail  to  notice 
in  their  turn  how  impossible  it  was  to  distinguish  be- 
tween them.  "  So  evident  is  this  resemblance,"  says 
Vogt,^  "  that  we  may  easily  confound  together  imple- 
ments brought  from  such  very  different  sources." 

The  same  observation  applies  to  megalithic  monu- 
ments. Eveiywhere  we  find  these  primitive  structures 
assumino;  similar  forms.  It  is  difficult  enouo-h  to  believe 
that  the  w^ants  of  man  alone,  such  as  the  craving  for 
food,  the  need  of  clothing,  and  the  necessity  of  defend- 
ing himself,  have  led  in  every  case  to  the  same  ideas 
and  the  same  amount  of  progress.     Even  if  this  be 

'  Conp-ls  des  N'aturalisti's  AUeinands,  Innsbruck,  Sept.,  i86g, 


THE   STONE  AGE.  45 

proved  by  the  worked  flints,  we  cannot  accept  a  similar 
conclusion  with  regard  to  the  megalithic  monuments, 
which  imply  reflection  and  a  thought  of  the  future  far 
beyond  the  material  needs  of  daily  life.  Is  it  not  more 
reasonable  to  I'egard  a  similitude  so  striking  as  a  proof 
of  the  unity  of  our  race  ? 

The  human  bones  discovered  are  yet  more  convincing 
testimony.  Excavations  have  yielded  some  which  may 
date  from  the  very  earliest  period  of  the  existence  of 
man  upon  the  earth.  They  have  been  found  in  caves 
and  in  the  river  drift,  beneath  the  mounds  of  America 
and  the  megalithic  monuments  of  Eurojie,  in  the  ice- 
clad  districts  of  Scandinavia  and  of  Iceland,  and  in  the 
burning  deserts  of  Africa,  but  not  one  of  them  owes  its 
existence  to  men  of  a  type  different  from  those  of  his- 
toric times  or  of  our  own  day.^  MM.  Quatrefages 
and  Hamy  in  their  magnificent  work  "  Crania  Ethnica," 
have  been  able  to  distinguish  prehistoric  races  and 
indicate  the  area  they  occupied.  These  races  are  still 
represented,  and  their  descendants  of  to-day  retain  the 
characteristics  of  their  ancestors. 

One  final  conclusion  is  no  less  interesting.  These 
absolutely  countless  flints,  these  monuments  of  im- 
posing size,  these  stones  of  immense  weight  often 
brought  from  afar,  these  marvellous  mounds  and 
tumuli,  bear  witness  to  the  presence  of  a  population 
which  was  already  considerable  at  the  time  of  which 

'  "  Quaternary  man  is  always  man  in  every  acceptation  of  the  word.  In  every 
case  in  which  the  bones  collected  have  enabled  us  to  judge,  he  has  ever  been 
found  to  have  the  hand  and  foot  proper  to  our  species,  and  that  double  curva- 
ture of  the  spinal  column  has  been  made  out,  so  characteristic  that  Serres  made 
it  the  distinctive  attribute  of  his  human  kingdom.  In  every  case  with  him,  as 
with  us,  the  skull  is  more  fully  developed  than  the  face.  In  the  Neanderthal 
skull  so  often  quoted  as  bestial,  the  cranial  capacity  is  more  than  double  that 
ever  found  in  the  largest  gorilla."  De  Quatrefages:  "  Hommes  Fossiles  et 
Hommes  Sauvages,"  p.  60. 


46  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

we  are  endeavoring  to  make  out  the  traces.  A  long 
series  of  centuries  must  have  been  needed  for  a  people 
to  increase  to  such  an  extent  as  to  have  spread  over 
entire  continents.  And  time  was  not  wanting.  What- 
ever antiquity  may  be  attributed  to  the  human  race, 
whatever  the  initial  date  to  which  its  first  appearance 
may  be  relegated,  this  anti(|uity  is  l)ut  slight,  this  date 
is  but  moderi],  if  ^\'e  compare  it  with  the  truly  incalcula- 
ble ao-es  of  which  geology  i-eveals  the  existence.  At 
every  turn  we  are  arrested  by  the  immensity  of  time, 
the  immensity  of  space,  and  yet  our  knowledge  is  still 
confined  to  the  mere  outer  rind  of  the  earth,  and  science 
cannot  as  yet  even  guess  at  the  secrets  hidden  beneath 
that  rind. 

In  concluding  these  introductoiy  remarks,  ^ve  must 
add  that  very  great  difficulties  await  those  who  devote 
themselves  to  prehistoric  studies — difficulties  such  as 
none  but  those  who  have  attempted  to  conquer  them 
can  ]-ealize.  The  rare  traces  of  prehistoric  man  must 
be  sought  amongst  the  effects  of  the  cataclysms  that 
have  devastated  the  earth,  and  the  ruins  jiiled  up  in 
the  course  of  ages.  AVe  must  sIkjw^  man  wrestling 
with  the  ever-recurrent  difficulties  of  his  hard  life,  and 
gradually  develo[)iug  in  accordance  with  a  law  which 
ap[)ears  to  ])e  immutable.  Such  is  the  aim  of  this 
work,  and  it  is  ^vith  gratitude  that  we  assert  at  the 
beginning  that  the  fianta  uoino,  the  human  plant,  as 
Alfieri  calls  our  race,  was  endowed  by  the  Creator 
from  the  fii'st  with  a  very  vigorous  vitality,  to  enable 
it  to  contend  with  the  dangers  besetting  its  steps  in 
the  early  days  of  its  existence,  and  w  ith  a  truly  marvel- 
lous spii-it,  to  be  able  to  make  so  humble  a  beginning 
the  starting-point  for  a  destiny  so  glorious. 


CHAPTER  II. 

FOOD,    CANNIBALISM,     MAMMALS,    FISH,    HfTNTING,    AND 

B^ISIIING. 

The  first  care  of  iiuiii  on  liis  arrival  upon  the  earth 
was  necessai'ily  to  make  sure  of  food.  Wikl  Ijerries, 
acorns,  and  e})hemeral  grasses  only  last  for  a  time, 
whilst  land  mollusca  and  insects,  forming  but  a  misera- 
ble diet  at  the  best,  disappear  during  tlie  w^inter.  Meat 
must  certainly  have  been  the  chief  food  of  prehistoric 
man  ;  the  accumulations  of  bones  of  all  sorts  in  the 
caves  and  other  places  inhabited  by  him  leave  no  doul)t 
on  that  point.  The  horse,  which  in  Europe  was  hunted, 
killed,  and  eaten  for  many  centuries  before  it  was 
domesticated,  ^vas  an  important  article  of  diet,  and  was 
sup[)lemented  by  the  aurochs,  the  stag,  the  chamois, 
the  wild  goat,  the  boai",  the  hare,  and  failing  them,  the 
wolf,  the  fox,  and  above  all  the  reindeer,  Avliich  multi- 
plied rapidly  in  districts  suitable  to  it.  The  elephant 
bones  picked  u[)  on  Mount  Dol  and  elsewhere  ai'e 
nearly  all  those  of  young  animals  ;  and  it  is  pi'obable 
that  they  had  been  killed  for  food  by  man.  In  the 
Sureau    Cave    in    Belojium,^  in    that    of   Auri^-uac   in 

'  In  this  cave  were  found  the  bones  of  45  bears.  In  the  Goyet  Cave  (which 
bears  the  number  3),  were  found  complete  sets  of  the  bones  of  12  mammoths,  8 
rhinoceroses,  57  Ijears,  57  horses,  24  hyrenas,  35  reindeer,  6  uruses,  2  lions,  with 
the  bones  of  a  great  number  of  goats,  chamois,  and  boars.  Dupont :  ' '  L'Homme 
pendant  I'Age  de  la  Pierre,"  p.  86. 

47 


48  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

France,  and  Biixliam  in  England,  have  been  found 
complete  skeletons  of  the  Ursus  spelceus,  which  had 
evidently  been  dragged  in  with  the  flesh  still  on  them, 
for  all  the  bones  are  in  their  natural  position.  In 
other  caves,  the  thorax  and  the  vertebrae  of  the  skele- 
tons were  missing ;  tbe  cave-man,  having  despatched 
his  victim,  had  evidently  taken  only  the  more  succu- 
lent parts  into  his  retreat.  Beasts  of  prey  merely  gnaw 
the  comparatively  tender  and  spongy  tops  of  the  bones, 
leaving  the  hard,  compact  parts  untouched.  In  the 
caves  that  were  inhabited  by  man,  however,  we  find 
the  apophyses  neglected,  whilst  the  diaphyses  are  split 
open.  We  cannot,  therefore,  make  any  mistake  on  this 
point,  or  attribute  to  the  beast  of  prey  what  is  certainly 
the  work  of  man. 

AVhilst  he  evidently  preferred  to  hunt  and  eat  the 
larger  mammals,  man  when  pressed  by  hunger  did  not 
despise  the  small  rodents,  which  were,  of  course,  more 
easily  captured.  Amongst  piles  of  the  bones  of  horses 
and  stacks  have  been  found  the  remains  of  martens, 
hedgehogs,  and  mice ;  and  from  the  Thayngen  Cave 
have  been  taken  the  bones  of  more  than  five  hundred 
hares.  In  Bel^-ium  the  water-rat  seems  to  have  been 
considered  a  dainty,  and  in  the  Chaleux  Cave  alone 
w^ere  found  moi'e  than  twenty  pounds'  weight  of  the 
bones  of  this  creature,  nearly  all  bearing  traces  of 
having  been  subjected  to  the  action  of  fire. 

The  remains  of  birds  are  rarer,  and  Broca  has  re- 
marked that  the  most  aucient  hunting  implements 
which  have  come  down  to  us ;  those  from  the  Moustier 
Cave,  for  instance,  were  adapted  rather  to  attack  ani- 
mals that  would  show  fight  than  those  that  would 
simply  fly  or  run  away.     The  Gourdan  Cave,  however, 


FOOD,    CANNIBALISM,    MAMMALS,    HUNTING.  49 

has  yielded  the  bones  of  the  mool•-fo^v■l,  the  partridge, 
the  wild  duck,  and  even  the  domesticated  cock  and 
hen  ;  the  Frontal  Cave,  the  thrush,  the  duck,  the  par- 
tridge, and  the  pigeon  ;  and  in  other  caves  were  found 
the  bones  of  the  goose,  the  swan,  and  the  grouse. 
Milne-Edwards  enumerates  fifty-one  sj^ecies  belonging 
to  different  orders  found  in  the  caves  of  France,  and 
M.  Riviere  picked  up  the  remains  of  thousands  of  birds 
in  those  of  Baousse-Rousse  on  the  frontier  of  Italy/ 

The  skulls  of  the  mammals  had  been  opened,  and 
the  bones  split.  Brains  and  marrow  probably  figured 
at  feasts  as  the  greatest  delicacies.  Travellers,  whose 
tales  are  a  help  to  us  in  building  up  a  picture  of  the 
remote  past  of  our  race,  relate  that  the  Laplanders,  as 
soon  as  an  animal  is  killed,  break  open  its  skull  and 
devour  the  brain  whilst  it  is  still  warm  and  l)leeding. 
This  was  probably  also  the  custom  amongst  ])rehistoric 
cave-men. 

The  flesh  of  animals  was  not,  alas,  the  only  meat 
eaten,  and  excavations  in  different  parts  of  the  globe 
have  led  to  the  discovery  of  traces  of  the  practice  of 
cannibalism  which  it  is  difficult  not  to  accept.^ 

Dr.  Sj)ring  noticed  at  Chauvaux  a  gi'eat  many  bones 
which  were  nearly  all  those  of  women  and  children, 
side  by  side  with  which  lay  others  of  ruminants  belong- 
ing to  species  still  extant.  All  these  bones  had  alike 
been  subjected  to  great  heat,  and  jaone  but  those  which 
had  contained  no  marrow  were  left  unbroken.  This 
appears  an  incontrovertible  proof  of  cannibalism,  and 

'  These  birds  belonged  to  the  rapaces,  passeres,  gallinaceous,  wading,  and 
web-footed  groups.  Every  order  is  represented,  and  nearly  all  the  bones  were 
those  of  edible  species,  which  had  certainly  served  as  food  to  man. 

2  Richard  Andree :  "Die  Anthropophagie  eine  Ethnographische  Studie," 
Leipzig,  1887. 


50  PREHISTORIC  riiOPLES. 

Dr.  Spring  concludes  that  it  was  certainly  practised  by 
the  earliest  inhabitants  of  Belgium.  We  must  add, 
however,  that  other  excavations  in  the  same  cave  at 
Chauvaux  prove  that  it  was  used  as  a  burial-place, 
some  skeletons  beiuij:  raniii-ed  in  rec^ular  oi'der  with 
weapons  and  stone  implements  placed  beside  them.^ 
M.  Du])ont  mentions  having  found  in  the  caves 
of  the  Lesse,  which  date  from  the  Reindeer  period, 
human  bones  mixed  with  other  remains  of  a  meal. 
He  notes  a  similar  fact  in  another  cave  that  he  con- 
siders belongs  to  Neolithic  times.  ''  But,"  he  adds, 
"  none  of  these  bones  bear  any  trace  of  having  been 
struck  with  a  flint  or  other  tool  with  a  view  to  their 
fracture.  If  any  of  them  are  broken  it  is  transversely, 
and  the  cause  of  the  fracture  has  been  merely  the 
weight  of  the  earth  above  them  ;  moi'eover,  they  show 
no  trace  of  the  action  of  fire."  ^  M.  Dupont,  therefore, 
still  retains  some  doubt  of  the  cannibalism  of  the  cave- 
men of  the  valley-  of  the  Lesse,  and  atti-ibutes  the 
presence  of  the  bones  of  the  dead  amongst  the  rubbish 
of  all  kinds  accumulated  by  the  living,  to  their  idleness 
and  indifference.  One  example  at  the  present  day 
tends  to  confirm  this  opinion,  for  travellers  tell  us  of 
the  same  revolting  carelessness  amongst  the  Esqui 
manx,  who  cannot  cei'tainly  be  classed  amongst 
cannibals. 

The  Abbe  Chierici,  speaking  at  the  Brussels  Con 
gress  ^  of  the  excavations  in  one  of  the  Reggio  caves, 
I'emarked  that  hnman  bones  were  mixed  with  those  of 


'  "  Les  Hommes  de  Chavaux  et  d'Engis  "  Bid.  Acad.  Roy.  de  Belgique,  vol 
XX.,   1853  ;  vol.  xviii.  (new  series),   1863  ;  vol.   xxii.,  1866  ;  Maieriaux,  1872, 

p.  517. 

*  "L'Homme  pendant  les  Ages  de  la  Pierre,"  p.  225, 
'  "  Compte  Rendu,"  p.  363. 


FOOD,    CANNIBALISM,    MAMMALS,    HUNTING.  5 1 

animals,  and  that  both  showed  traces  of  having  been 
burnt.  These  bones  date  from  the  Neolithic  period, 
and  with  them  were  picked  up  various  objects  of  re- 
markable workmanship,  including  fragments  of  pottery, 
half  a  grindstone  for  ci'ushing  grain,  and  some  admira- 
bly polished  serpentine  hatchets. 

Other  facts  leave  no  doubt  of  the  cannibalism  of  the 
earliest  inhabitants  of  Italy.  Moreover,  hesitation  on 
this  point  is  impossible  for  other  reasons,  as  Roman 
historians  allude  to  the  practice.  Pliny,^  in  saying  how 
little  removed  was  a  human  sacrifice  from  a  meal,  adds, 
that  it  ought  not  to  surprise  us  to  meet  with  this  mon- 
strous custom  amongst  barbarian  races,  as  it  prevailed 
in  ancient  times  in  Italy  and  Sicily. 

It  is  generally  admitted  that  we  can  tell  whether  the 
fracture  of  long  bones  was  intentional  by  the  way  in 
which  they  were  broken.  This  fact,  w^hich  is  true 
alike  with  the  bones  of  men  and  of  animals,  is  the  most 
important  proof  we  have  of  the  cannibalism  of  the  men 
of  the  Stone  age.  To  the  examples  already  given,  we 
can  easily  add  others  culled  from  France.  In  the 
Pyrenees  and  in  the  caves  of  Lourdes  and  Grourdan, 
for  instance,  human  bones  have  been  found  mixed 
with  the  cinders  and  ashes  of  the  hearth,  and  still 
bearing  the  marks  of  the  implements  with  which  they 
were  broken. 

At  Bruniquel  a  human  skull  was  found  which  had 
been  opened  in  the  same  way  as  the  heads  of  ruminants 
amongst  which  it  was  picked  up,  and  on  its  external 
surface  were  deep  notches,  which  appear  to  have  been 
made  with  a  flint  hatchet.  Similar  traces  of  revolting 
feasts  on  human  flesh  are  not  at  all  rare ;  near  Paris,  at 

'  "  Hist.  Nat.,"  book  vii.,  sec.  2. 


52  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES, 

Villeneiive-Saint-Geor2;es,  and  at  Varenne-Saint-Manr, 
for  iustaiice,' 

The  excavations  in  tbe  Montesquieu-Avantes  Cave, 
about  six  miles  from  Saiut-Girons,  Lave  brought  to 
light  a  hearth  covered  ovei-  with  a  layer  of  stalagmite; 
numerous  fragments  of  human  bones,  crania,  femora, 
tibia?,  humeri,  and  radii  were  found  in  this  layer,  and 
in  that  of  the  subjacent  clay.  In  many  cases  the 
medullary  orifice  had  been  enlarged  to  make  it  easier 
to  get  out  the  marrow.  It  is  impossible  to  attribute 
this  to  a  rodent,  for  the  bones  gnawed  by  animals  of 
that  kind  present  a  regular  series  of  marks.  The  con- 
clusion is  inevitable  :  these  bones,  alike  of  men  and  of 
animals,  were  the  remains  of  a  meal."^ 

In  Kent's  Hole,  the  celebrated  cave  in  Devonshire, 
amongst  many  objects  dating  from  the  Stone  age,  were 
found  some  human  bones  bearing  traces  of  having  been 
gnawed  by  man.  The  eminent  anthropologist,  Owen, 
came  to  a  similar  conclusion — that  cannibalism  had 
been  practised — after  examining  the  jaw-bone  of  a 
child  found  in  Scotland  ;  and  so  did  the  Rev.  F.  Porter, 
after  the  excavations  near  Scarborough,  where  several 
skeletons  were  found  under  a  tumulus,  which  had 
apparently  been  thrown  whei'e  they  were  discovered 
by  accident. 

The  Cesareda  caves  in  Portugal  have  yielded  some 
bones  split  lengthwise ;  and  beneath  the  dolmen  near 
the  village  of  Hammer,  in  Denmark,  human  bones  and 
those  of  stags  have  been  found  half  gnawed,  and  show- 
ing only  too  clearly  the  origin  of  the  marks  upon  them. 
Worsaae  quotes  similar  facts  at  Boi'reby,  Chantres  re- 

'  Belgrand  :  "  Le  Bassin  Parisien,"  vol.  i.,  p.  232. 

'■^  Bull.  Soc.  A  nth.,  1869,  p.  476. — Ac.  des  Sciences,  1870,  first  week,  p.  167. 


FOOD,    CANNIBALISM,    MAMMALS,   HUNTING.  53 

fers  to  the  same  thing  in  the  caves  of  the  Caucasus, 
Captain  Burton  at  Beitsahur,  near  Jerusalem,  Wiener 
in  the  samhaquis  of  Brazil,  even  in  deposits  which  he 
considers  of  recent  origin.' 

Brazil  is  not  the  only  part  of  the  Amei'ican  continent 
in  which  we  find  traces  of  the  use  of  this  I'evoltinjj:  food. 
In  the  kitchen-middings  of  Florida  Wyman  found 
human  bones,  which  had  been  intentionally  broken, 
mixed  with  those  of  deer  and  beavers.  The  mari'ow 
had  been  taken  from  all  of  them  and  eaten  by  man. 
Yet  more  recent  discoveries  of  a  similar  kind  have 
been  made  in  New  England.^ 

We  must,  however,  add  that  many  of  these  facts  are 
contested.  Every  people  considers  it  a  point  of  honor 
to  repudiate  the  idea  that  its  ancestors  fed  on  human 
flesh,  and  yet  everywhere  history  tells  us  of  the  prac- 
tice of  cannibalism.  Herodotus  speaks  of  it  amongst 
the  Androphaga?  and  the  Issedones,  people  of  Scythian 
oricrin;  Aristotle  among^st  the  races  living  on  the  l)orders 
of  the  Pontus  Euxinus  ;  Diodorus  Siculus  amongst  the 
Galatians  ;  and  Strabo,  in  his  turn,  says  :  "  The  Irish, 
more  savage  than  the  Bretons,  are  cannibals  and  poly- 
phagous  ;  they  consider  it  an  honor  to  eat  their  parents 
soon  after  life  is  extinct."  ^ 

From  the  ancient  tombs  of  Georgia  have  been  taken 
human  bones  that  have  been  boiled  or  charred,  which 
were  doubtless  those  of  the  victims  eaten  by  the  assist- 
ants in  t\\e  fetes  which  have  ever  accompanied  funeral 
rites. 

In  the  fourth  century  of  our  era  Jerome  speaks  of 


'  Archives  du  Mtis^e  National  de  Rio  de  jfaneiro,  vol.  i.,  1876. 
^  See  my  translation   of  De  Nadaillac's  "  Prehistoric  America,"  pp.  53,  58, 
and  59." — N.  D'Anvers.  ^  "Geography,"  book  iv. 


54  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

having  met  in  Gaul  with  the  Attacotes,  descended 
from  a  savage  Scotch  tribe,  who  fed  on  human  flesh, 
and  that  though  they  possessed  great  herds  of  cattle 
and  flocks  of  sheep,  with  numbers  of  pigs,  for  whom 
their  vast  forests  afforded  excellent  grazing  grounds ' ; 
and  though  the  Scandinavian  kitcheu-middiu'gs  have 
not  so  far  yielded  any  traces  of  the  practice  of  canni- 
balism, Adam  of  Bremen,  who  preached  Christianity 
at  the  court  of  King  Sweyn  Ulfson,  represents  the 
Danes  of  his  day  as  Vjai'barians  clad  in  the  skins  of 
beasts,  chasing  the  aurochs  and  the  eland,  unable  to  do 
more  than  imitate  the  cries  of  animals  and  devouring 
the  flesh  of  their  fellow-men.^ 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  barbarity  of  the  Mexican 
sacrifices,  the  numbers  of  the  victims,  and  the  refine- 
ments of  torture  to  which  they  were  subjected.  Pris- 
oners, who  had  often  been  fattened  for  months  pre- 
viously, perished  by  thousands  on  the  altars.  The 
palpitating  flesh  was  distributed  amongst  the  assistants, 
and  a  horrible  custom  compelled  the  priests  to  clothe 
themselves  in  the  still  bleedin<>:  skins  of  the  unfortu- 
nate  wretches,  and  to  wear  them  until  they  rotted  to 
pieces. 

Without  going  back  to  an  antiquity  so  remote,  in 
how  many  different  regions  of  Africa  and  America, 
and  in  how  many  islands  of  Polynesia  have  not  our 
sailors  and  missionaries  reported  the  practice  of  canni- 
balism in  our  own  day  ?  It  is  difficult,  therefore,  not 
to  believe,  although  the  fact  cannot  perhaps  be  very 
distinctly  proved,  that  the  fii'st  inhabitants  of  Europe 

'  "  Opera,"  vol.  ii.,  Migne  edition,  p.  335.  Richard,  of  Cirencester,  says  that 
the  Attacotes  lived  on  tlie  shores  of  tlie  Clyde,  beyond  the  great  wall  of 
Hadrian. 

^  Schwcden's  "  Urgeschichte,"  p.  341. 


FOOD,    CANNIBALISM,   MAMMALS,   HUNTING.  55 

degraded  as  were  the  conditions  of  their  existence, 
did  eat  human  flesh  and  acquire  a  depraved  taste  for 
it ;  imi^elled  thereto  not  only  by  the  pangs  of  hunger, 
but  also  by  a  revolting  superstition. 

Animals,  however,  were  very  plentiful  all  around. 
Stags,  elks,  aurochs,  horses,  and  the  large  pachyderms 
multiplied  very  rapidly  in  the  wide  solitudes,  the 
pasture  lands  of  which  afforded  thera  a  constantly 
renewed  sup[)ly  of  food,  and  the  beasts  of  prey  in 
their  turn  found  an  easy  prey  in  the  ruminants.^  The 
ways  of  animals  do  not  change,  and  the  travellers 
who  are  exploring  the  interior  of  Africa  tell  us  that 
now,  as  in  the  day  we  are  trying  to  recall,  hundreds 
of  elephants  and  rhinoceroses  congregate  in  a  limited 
area,  whilst  innumerable  herds  of  giraffes,  zebras, 
and  gazelles  graze  peacefully  in  the  presence  of  man, 
whose  destructive  powers  they  have  not  yet  learnt  to 
dread. 

Delegorgue  speaks  of  one  lake  peopled  by  more 
than  one  hundred  hippopotami,  and  of  a  region  less 
than  three  miles  in  diameter  containing  six  hundred 
elephants.  Livingstone  tells  us  that  he  saw  troops  of 
more  than  four  thousand  antelopes  pass  at  a  time,  and 
that  these  animals  showed  absolutely  no  fear.  We 
may  give  a  yet  more  curious  instance.  Captain  Gordon 

'  The  felid?e  were  very  numerous  in  Europe  in  Quaternary  times.  We  may 
mention  two  species  of  lions,  Leo  nohilis  and  Leo  spcLrits,  the  latter  often  con- 
founded with  the  Fclis  spchcus  of  such  frequent  occurrence  in  French  caves, 
two  species  of  tigers,  Tigris  Edioarsiaiia  and  Tigris  Europcra,  the  largest  of  the 
Quaternary  felida;,  which  was  some  twelve  feet  long.  We  also  know  of  seven 
species  of  leopards,  six  species  of  cats,  from  the  Serval  to  a  little  felis  smaller 
than  our  domestic  cat  ;  two  species  of  lynx,  and  lastly  the  machairodiis,  a 
beast  of  prey  of  consideral^le  size,  characterized  by  having  exceptionally  long 
upper  canines  serrated  like  a  saw.  Probably  these  beasts  of  prey  were  not  all 
contemporaries,  but  succeeded  each  other.  (Bourguignat  :"  Histoire  des  Felidse 
Fossiles  en  France  dans  les  Depots  de  la  Periode  Quaternaire,"  Paris,  1879.) 


56  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

Cnmming,  crossing  the  plains  stretching  away  on  the 
north  of  the  Cape,  saw^  troops  of  gazelles  and  ante- 
lopes, compelled  by  a  long  drought  to  migrate  in 
search  of  the  water  indispensable  to  them,  and  he 
describes  with  enthusiasm  one  of  these  migrations, 
telling  ns  that  the  plain  was  literally  covered  Avith 
animals,  the  hnrrying  herds  defiling  befoi-e  him  in  an 
endless  stream.  On  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  a 
yet  more  numerous  herd  passed  l)y  in  the  same  direc- 
tion, the  numbers  of  which  were  absolutely  incalcu- 
lable, but  which,  accoi'ding  to  Gumming,  must  have 
exceeded  several  hundred  thousand. 

Such  must  have  been  animal  life  in  Euroj)e  in 
Quaternary  times.  "  Grand  indeed,"  cries  Hugh 
Miller,  "  was  the  fauna  of  the  British  Isles  in  those 
days.  Tigers,  as  large  again  as  the  biggest  Asiatic 
species,  lurked  in  the  ancient  thickets ;  elephants,  of 
nearly  twice  the  bulk  of  the  largest  individuals  that 
now  exist  in  Africa  or  Ceylon,  roamed  in  herds  ;  at 
least  two  species  of  rhinoceros  foi'ced  their  way  through 
the  pi'imeval  forest,  and  the  lakes  and  rivers  were 
tenanted  by  hipjDopotami  as  bulky  and  with  as  great 
tusks  as  those  of  Africa."  ' 

Material  proofs  of  the  presence  of  animals  are  not 
wanting.  The  accumulation  of  coprolites  in  the  cave 
of  Sentenheim  (Alsace)  bears  witness  to  the  number 
of  beai-s  which  once  haunted  it.  Noi'diiiaiin  took  fi-om 
a  cave  near  Odessa  4,500  bones  of  ursi(he,  associated 
with  no  less  numei'ous  relics  of  the  large  cave-lion  and 
cave-hyena.'"'     The  Kiiluck  Cave,  now  some  six  huudi-ed 

'  "Testimony  of  the  Rocks,"  p.  127,  Edinburgh  and  Boston,  1857. 
*  Ossemen/s  Fossiles  Trouves  a  Odessa.     The  cave-hyena  resembles  that  now 
livint;  at  the  Cape. 


FOOD,    CAN\rrRAIJSM,    MAMMALS,    HUNTIXG.  57 

and  fifty  feet  above  tlie  river,  contained  the  remains  of 
no  less  than  2,500  bears,  and  similar  relics  occur  by- 
thousands  in  the  osseous  breccia  of  Santenay  and  in 
the  cave  of  Lherm,  \vdiei"e  they  form  a  regular  ossuary. 
It  would  be  easy  to  quote  similar  facts  from  Belgian, 
German,  and  Hungarian  caves.  In  almost  every  case 
the  position  of  the  skeletons  seems  to  show  that  the 
bears  sought  a  last  refuge  in  the  caves,  and  that  death 
had  surprised  them  during  their  winter  sleep.  Pachy- 
derms were  no  less  numerous  than  bears.  The  remains 
of  mammoths  are  found  from  the  north  of  Europe  to 
Greece  and  Spain,  and  we  meet  with  them  in  Algeria, 
in  Asia  from  the  Altai  Mountains  to  the  Arctic  Ocean, 
and  in  America  in  Mexico  and  Kentucky.  They 
seem  to  have  entrenched  themselves  especially  in 
Siberia,  whence  tusks  are  still  exported  as  an  article 
of  commerce.  In  the  extreme  North,  those  parts  of 
Wrangel's  Land  which  have  been  explored  are  stre\vn 
with  the  bones  of  mastodons,  and  in  some  parts  of 
Sonora  and  Columbia  these  remains  form  almost 
inexhaustible  deposits. 

Animals  of  the  cervine  and  equine  groups  were,  if 
possible,  yet  more  numerous.  M.  Piette  estimates  the 
number  of  reindeer  whose  bones  he  has  picked  up  in 
the  Gourdan  Cave  as  over  3,000,  and.  the  number  of 
cervidie  found  at  Hohlefels  is  positively  incalculable. 

In  1 826,  Marcel  de  Serres  called  attention  to  the  great 
number  of  the  l)ones  of  animals  of  the  equine  family 
found  in  the  neigh  boi'hood  of  Lunel-Viel ;  at  Solutre, 
the  remains  of  horses  cover  a  great  portion  of  the  slope 
which  stretches  from  the  eastern  side  of  the  mountain 
to  the  bottom  of  the  valley.  Here  ai'e  found  those 
vast  accumulations  to   which   the  inhabitants  of  the 


58  PKEJIISTORIC  PEOPLES, 

valley  give  tlie  characteristic  name  of  horse-tvalls.  The 
number  of  horses,  the  bones  of  which  have  gone  to 
form  these  walls,  may  be  estimated  without  exaggera- 
tion at  40,000.  The  bones  are  mixed  together  in  the 
greatest  confusion,  many  of  them  show  traces  of  having 
been  burnt,  and  the  flesh  of  the  horse  was  evidently 
the  favorite  diet  of  the  people  of  Solutre.^ 

At  first  man  obtained  by  force,  often  aided  by  strat- 
egy, the  animals  he  coveted.  He  had  not  yet  learnt  to 
tame  tbem  and  reduce  them  to  servitude.  Neither  the 
reindeer  nor  the  horse  was  as  yet  domesticated,  and 
neither  in  the  caves  nor  in  the  various  deposits  else- 
where has  a  complete  skeleton  been  found,  but  only — 
a  very  significant  fact — the  bones  on  which  had  been 
the  greater  amount  of  flesh.  The  absence  of  any 
remains  of  the  dog,  so  indispensable  an  animal  in  the 
keeping  of  flocks,  is  yet  another  ]_)roof  that  domesti- 
cation was  still  unpractised. 

It  was  with  most  miserable  weapons,  such  as  a  few 
stones,  scarcely  even  I'ough-hewn,  and  a  few  flint  ar- 
rows, that  the  cave-man  did  not  hesitate  to  attack  the 
most  formidable  animals,  and  with  such  apparently 
inadequate  means  he  succeeded  in  wounding  and  even 
killing  them.  The  French  Museum  possesses  mammoth 
and  rhinoceros  bones  bearing  fine  scratches  produced 
by  the  Aveapons  which  had  been  used  to  despatch  the 
animals.  The  metacarpus  of  a  large  beast  of  prey, 
found  at  Eyzies,  retains  marks  no  less  clear,  and  the 
skull  of  a  1)ear  from  Nabrii^as  has  in  it  a  larsre  wound 
which  nmst  have  been  made  by  a  missile  of  some  kind. 

In  Ireland  a  stone  hammer  was  found  wedged  into 

'  Ducrost  and  Arcelin:  "  Stratigraphie  de  1'  Eboulis  de  Sohitre,"  Mat.,  1876, 
p.  403.     Archives  du  Mtisc'uin  iPIIisl.  Nat.  de  Lyon,  vol.  I. 


FiSir  AND  FISHING.  59 

the  head  of  a  Cevmis  megaceros  j  in  Cambridgeshire, 
the  skull  of  an  Ursus  spelceus  still  containing  the  frag- 
ment of  a  celt  which  had  given  the  animal  his  death- 
blow ;  at  Richmond  (Yorkshire)  the  bones  of  a  large 
deer  whicli  had  ])een  sawn  with  a  flint  implement. 
The  fine  collection  in  the  University  of  Lund,  contains 
a  vertebra  of  a  urns  pierced  by  an  arrow,  and  the 
Copenhagen  Museum,  the  jaw  of  a  stag  pierced  by  a 
fragment  of  flint,  Steenstrup  mentions  two  bones  of  a 
large  stag  into  whicli  stone  chi|)s  had  penetrated  deeply, 
and  in  which  tlie  fracture  had  been  gradually  covei'ed 
over  by  the  bony  tissue.  A  bone  of  some  bovine 
animal  with  an  arrow  deeply  imbedded  in  it  has  been 
taken  from  a  bed  of  peat  in  the  island  of  Moen,  cele- 
brated for  its  tumuli  and  the  number  of  objects  found 
in  them.  At  Eyzies,  a  flint  flake  has  been  found 
firmly  fixed  in  one  of  the  lumbar  vertebrae  of  a  young 
reindeer,  and  M.  de  Baye  mentions  an  arrow  with  a 
tran verse  eds^e  stuck  in  the  bone  of  a  badcjer.^  The 
Abbe  Ducrost  found  a  Hint  arrow-head  stickino-  in  a 
vertebra  of  a  horse. 

Nor  were  those  already  mentioned  the  only  animals 
on  which  man  made  war.  We  shall  speak  presently 
of  the  contests  with  each  other,  which  began  amongst 
men  in  the  very  earliest  days  of  humanity.  Human 
bones,  perforated  by  arrows  and  broken  by  stone  hatch- 
ets, bear  ineffaceable  traces  to  this  day  of  homicidal 
struggles. 

In  many  places  fresh-w^ater  and  marine  fish  were 
utilized  as  food  Ijy  man.  In  the  numerous  caves  of  the 
Vezere,  in  those  of  Madeleine,  Eyzies,  and  Bruniquel, 
excavations  have  brought  to  light  the  vertebrae  and 

'  M.  de  Baye  found  a  great  many  similar  arrow-heads  in  tlie  Petit-Morin  caves. 


6o  PREHISTORIC  FEOFUCS. 

other  bones  of  fishes,  amongst  which  predominate 
chiefly  tliose  of  the  Jack,  tlie  carp,  the  bream,  the 
chub,  the  trout,  and  the  tencli — in  a  word,  all  the  fish 
which  still  people  our  rivers  and  lakes.  In  the  Lake 
Stations  of  Switzerland,  fish  of  all  kinds  are  no  less 
abundant.  At  Gardeole,  amongst  the  bones  of  mammals 
have  been  found  the  shells  of  mollusca,  and  remains  of 
the  turtle  and  of  goldfish.  Fish  was  not,  however, 
caught  by  all  these  primitive  [)eo[)le,  not  even  by  all 
those  who  lived  by  the  sea.  In  researches  carefully 
carried  on  for  years  in  the  Maritime-Alps,  M.  Kiviere 
found  neither  fishing-tackle  nor  fish-lines. 

AVhilst  the  cave-men  of  the  south  of  Fi-ance  seem  not 
to  have  utilized  any  but  fresh-water  fish,  the  Scandi- 
navians, at  a  date  pi'obably  less  I'emote  however,  did 
not  hesitate  to  brave  the  ocean.  The  kitchen-middings 
contain  numerous  i-emains  of  fish,  amongst  w^hich  those 
of  the  mackerel,  the  dab,  and  the  herring  are  the  most 
numerous.  There,  too,  we  meet  with  I'elics  of  the  cod, 
which  never  approaches  the  coast,  and  must  always  be 
sought  by  the  fisherman  in  the  open  sea. 

Although  we  are  in  a  position  to  assert  that  men  were 
able  to  catch  fish  during  eveiy  prehistoric  period,  if 
not  in  every  locality,  'we  can  speak  less  positively  of 
theii'  mode  of  doing  so.  The  earliest  fishing-tackle  was 
donl)tless  of  the  most  primitive  description:  the  bone 
of  some  animal,  a  fragment  of  hard  wood,  or  even  a 
fish-bone  ])ointed  at  each  end  and  ])iei'ced  with  a  hole, 
served  their  pui'[)ose  (Fig.  lo).  The  Exhibition  of 
Fisliing-Tackle  held  at  BeiTm  in  1880  contained  several 
such  implements,  some  of  wood,  others  of  bone.  Others 
have  also  been  found  in  the  Madeleine  Cave,  and  in 
different  stations  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Switzer- 


FISII  A  A'/)  Frsinh'G.  6 1 

land.     Tt  is  interesting   to   note  tlieii'  i-esemhlance  to 
tbose  still  in  nse  amongst  the  Esquimaux. 


Fig.  io.  —  i.  Fragments  of  arrows  made  of  reindeer  liorii  from  tlie  Martinet 
Cave  (Lot-et-Garonr.e). — 2.  Point  of  spear  or  harpoon  in  stag-horn  (one  third 
natural  size). — 3.  and  4.  Bone  weapons  from  Denmarlt. — 5.  Harpoon  of  sta^- 
horn  from  St.  Aubin. — 6.    Hone  fish-hooks  pointed  at  each  end,  from  Wangen. 

Prehistoric  man  also  turned  to  account  the  teeth  of 
animals.     We  may  quote  in  this  connection  the  molars 


62 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


of  a  bear  from  which  the  enamel  and  the  crown  have 
been  removed,  and  the  thickness  of  which  has  been 
lessened  by  rubbing  (Fig.  11).  The  small  flints  picked 
np  in  great  numbers  in  the  department  of  the  Gironde 
also  date  from  a  I'emote  anticpiity;  they  are  sixteen 
millimetres  long  by  four  wide,  and  though  we  cannot 
assert  it  as  a  fact,  they  are  sujiposed  to  have  Ijeen  used 
for  catchino;  fish. 

The  Museum  of  Lund  possesses  two  flint  fish-hooks 
of  a  curved  shaj)e,  one  of  them,  which  is  four  centi- 
metres long  by  nearly  three  wide,  was  found  by  the 
seashore;    the  other  and  smaller  one  came  from  the 


Fig.  II. — Bears'  teeth  converted  intc 
fish-hooks. 


Fig.   12. 


-Fish-hook  made  out  of  a 
boar's  tusk. 


shores  of  Lake  Ki'anke.^  Fish-hooks  made  of  bone, 
which  is  more  easily  worked  than  flint,  very  soon  re- 
placed those  in  that  material.  They  are  numerous  in 
the  Lake  Stations  of  Wangeu,  Mooseedorf,  and  St. 
Aubin.  Some  are  cut  out  of  the  hoi'ns  of  oxen,  others 
of  stags'  antlers;  while  others  again  are  made  of  boars' 
tusks  (Fig.  12),  but  all  alike  greatly  resemble  modern 
forms.  The  peat-bogs  of  Scania  have  yielded  a  bone 
fish-hook  seven  centimetres  long,  which  is  considered 
very  ancient,  and  the  Museum  of  Stettin  possesses  one, 
also  very  old,  found  in  a  marly  deposit  of  Pomerania. 
We  must  not  forget  to  mention,  although  it  probably 


'  Nilsson  :  "The  I'riiiiitive  Iiiliahitants  of  Scandinavia." 


FiSrr  AND    FISHING.  63 

belongs  to  a  much  more  recent  [)erio(l,  a  fisli-book  in 
reindeer  horn,  now  in  the  Christiania  Museum.  It  was 
found  in  a  tonil)  in  the  island  of  Kjelnoe,  not  far  from 
the  Russian  frontier.  Numerous  skeletons,  wrapped 
up  in  swathiugs  of  birch-bark,  rejiose  in  this  tomb. 
All  around  lay  fragments  of  pottery,  lance-  and  arrow- 
heads,* and  coml)s  of  reindeer  horn,  the  date  of  which 
it  is  impossible  to  fix  exactly. 

In  America,  stone  fisli-hooks  are  rare.  The  most 
ancient  are  of  bone,  and  resemble  those  now  in  use. 
They  have  been  picked  up  in  Dakota,  and  in  the  cinder- 
heaps  of  Madisonville  (Ohio),  in  Indiana,  in  Arkansas, 
on  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie,  and  in  a  kitchen-midding  of 
Long  Island.  The  greater  number  of  them  are  pol- 
ished, and  some  of  them  have  near  the  top  a  liole  by 
which  they  could  be  fastened  to  a  line  or  cord.  The 
fish-hooks  of  California  are  remarkable  for  their  rounded 
forms  and  sharply  curved  points ;  the  top  was  covered 
with  a  thick  layer  of  asphalt  to  which  the  line  was 
probably  fastened.  They  are  numerous  in  all  the 
islands  of  the  Pacific  coast.  In  that  of  Santa  Cruz 
Schumacker  excavated  a  tomb  which  must  have  been 
that  of  a  fish-hook  manufacturer,  for  care  had  been 
taken  to  place  near  the  deceased,  not  only  the  imj^le- 
ments  of  his  craft,  but  also  a  number  of  fish-hooks  in 
various  stages  of  advancement.  The  Californians  used 
the  shells  of  the  Mytilus  Califorriicus  and  Haliotis  to 
make  fish-hooks,  and  these  were  even  more  curved  than 
those  made  of  bone.     The  shape  seems  but  little  suited 

'  Captain  Edward  Johnson,  who  travelled  about  in  New  England  from  1628 
to  1632,  relates  that  the  children  there  spent  their  days  in  shooting  at  the  fish 
that  appeared  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  succeeding  in  catching  them  with 
marvellous  skill.      "  A  History  of  New  England,"  London,  1654. 


64  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

for  fishing,  but  even  in  our  own  day  tlie  natives  of  the 
Samoa  Islands  use  similar  tackle  with  great  success. 
The  Indians  of  the  northwest  coast  make  fish-hooks  of 
epicea  wood,  and  those  of  Arizona  utilize  for  the  same 
purpose  the  long  spikes  of  the  cactus.  It  is  very  prob- 
able that  European  as  well  as  American  races  knew 
how  to  use  wood  in  the  same  manner.  During  the 
lapse  of  centuries,  however,  these  fragile  objects  have 
been  reduced  to  dust,  and  \ve  are  unable  to  make  any 
further  conjectures  on  the  subject. 

The  use  of  bronze,  the  first  metal  to  be  generally 
employed,  does  not  seem  to  have  introduced  any  great 
modifications  in  fishing-tackle.  Bronze  fish-hooks  are, 
however,  thinner  and  lighter  than  those  in  other 
materials,  and  resemble  those  in  use  amongst  fishermen 
at  the  present  day.  A  certain  luimber  have  been  found 
in  the  Lake  Stations  of  Switzerland,  in  lakes  Peschiera 
and  Bourget,  as  well  as  in  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  the 
island  of  Fiinen  ofi:'  the  coast  of  Denmark.  We  must 
not  omit  to  mention  the  important  foundr}^  of  Larnaud, 
or  the  cacJie  of  Saiut-Pierre-en-Chatre,  both  so  rich  in 
bronze  objects.  In  America,  where  the  copper  mines 
of  Lake  Superior  were  worked  at  a  remote  antiquity, 
a  few  rare  copper  fish-hooks  have  been  found,  the 
greater  nundjer  in  the  Ancon  necropolis.'  Gold  fish- 
hooks  are  comparatively  more  numerous,  and  have  been 
discovered  in  New  Granada  and  the  Cauca  State.'  One 
of  these  was  found  some  foi'ty-nine  feet  below  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground,  and  as  there  is  no  trace  of  disturb- 
ance, we  cannot  assign  to  it  a  recent  origin.     The  gold 


'  Reiss  ami    Steiibel  :    "The    Necropolis  of  Ancoii    in    Peru,"    London    and 
Berlin. 

'^  Maieriaux,    1S70,  p.  348. 


FTSH  AND  FISHING. 


65 


lisli-liooks  are  about  four  inclies 
long,  and  look  like  l)ig  pins 
with  the  loAver  end  l)ent  back 
upon  the  upper. 

Other  fishing  implements 
were  also  used  by  our  prehis- 
toric ancestors.  At  Laugerie- 
Basse  a  lough  drawing  shows 
us  a  man  striking  with  a  hai*- 
poon  a  fish  that  is  trying  to 
escape.  These  harpoons  were 
generally  made  of  reindeer  horn 
(Figs.  10  and  13).  Some  had 
but  one  ])arb,  others  several. 
One  of  the  larQfest  was  found 
in  the  Madeleine  Cave ;  it  is 
eight  inches  long,  and  has 
three  barl)s  on  one  side  and 
five  on  the  other.  Most  of 
these  weapons  have  a  notch  in 
the  handle,  with  the  help  of 
which  they  could  be  firmly 
fastened  to  a  spear  or  lance. 
Different  fashions  prevailed  in 
different  localities,  and  sinews, 
leather  thongs,  roughly  plaited 
cords,  creepei's,  and  resinous 
substances  were  often  pressed 
into  the  service. 

Many  harpoons  have  been 
found  in  the  caves  of  the 
south  of  France ;  others  come 
from  Belgium,  from  Keyserloch 


m 
11  ^ 


A  B 

Fig.  13. — A,  a  large  barbed 
arrow  from  one  side  of  the  Plan- 
tade  shelter  (Tarn-et-Garonne). 
B,  lower  part  of  a  barbed  har- 
poon from  the  Plantade  deposit. 


66  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

in  Germany,  Kent's  Hole  in  England,  from  Conches, 
Wauwyl,  and  Concise  in  Switzerland.  Excavations  in 
Victoria  Cave,  near  Settle  (Yorksliire),  yielded  amongst 
otter  interesting  objects  a  bone  harpoon  cut  to  a 
point  and  with  two  barbs  on  either  side.  On  the 
banks  of  the  Uswiata,  a  little  Polish  river  flowing  into 
the  Dnieper,  two  harpoons  made  out  of  the  horns  of 
some  bovine  animal  were  found,  both  in  perfect  preser- 
vation,  and  with  several  barbs.^  Count  Ouvaroif,  in 
an  excellent  work  published  a  little  before  his  death, 
mentions  a  bone  spear  from  the  shores  of  the  Oka,  and 
Madsen  and  Montelius  speak  of  Scandinavian  harpoons. 
These  weapons  must  have  been  especially  useful  in 
the  North  during  the  severe  frosts  of  winter.  The 
fisherman  made  a  hole  in  the  ice  and  struck  the  fish 
with  his  harpoon  when  the  poor  creatures  came  up  to 
the  surface  to  breathe. 

From  the  most  remote  times  the  Americans  knew 
how  to  make  and  use  harpoons.  As  many  as  twenty- 
eight  different  kinds  are  known.^  In  some  the  barbs 
are  bilateral,  but  most  of  them  have  them  on  one  side 
only.  Some,  however,  are  made  of  stag  or  elk  horn, 
and  one  harpoon  fi'om  Maine  is  made  of  whalebone. 
A  harpoon-point  found  near  Detroit  (Michigan)  is 
nearly  a  foot  long  by  one  inch  thick.  Excavations  in 
a  rock  sheltei"  in  Alaska  yielded  a  harpoon  ^v  hich  lay 
side  ])y  side  with  some  of  the  most  ancient  Quater- 
nai}'  mammals  of  America.  A  good  many  copper 
liui'poon-heads  ai'e  also  mentioned;  one  of  the  largest 
fi-om  A\  isconsin  is  ten  inches  long.  Others  have 
been    found    in    the    island    of    Santa   J>arl)ai'a   (Cali- 

'  Wiadomosei  Arc/it'oloi^iznc,  No.  iv.,  Warsaw,  1882. 

'  Cli.  Ran  :    "  I'rcliistoric  I'isliing  in  Kuroj)e  and  America." 


FISH  AND  FISHING.  67 

fornia)  and  in  Tierra  del  Fuego,  \vliere  the  natives  of 
the  present  day  still  use  similar  ones.  These  harpoons 
with  barbs  are  by  no  means  simple  weapons,  the  idea 
of  which  would  naturally  occur  to  the  human  mind, 
so  that  it  is  really  extremely  strange  to  find  weapons 
so  entirely  similar  in  I'egious  so  different  and  so  widely 
separated  from  one  another.  This  constant  similitude 
in  the  working  of  the  genius  of  man  is,  as  we  shall 
never  tire  of  re^^eating,  one  of  the  most  striking  facts 
revealed  by  prehistoric  researches. 

Herodotus  tells  that  the  Pceni  (Carthaginians) 
plunged  baskets  into  the  water  and  drew  them  u})  full 
of  fish.  It  is  j)robable  that  the  Lake  Dwellers  of  Hel- 
vetia employed  a  similar  process,  but  these  ancient 
Swiss  were  already  more  advanced  than  that.  They 
knew  how  to  cultivate  hemji,  to  spin  it,  and  to  make 
nets  of  it ;  the  remains  of  some  of  these  nets  have  often 
of  late  years  been  taken  from  the  })eds  of  the  lakes. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  class  with  any  certainty 
the  numerous  Lake  Stations  of  Switzerland,  Some  few 
certainly  date  from  the  Stone  age,  others  from  the 
transition  period,  between  it  and  that  of  the  early  use 
of  metals,  or  even  from  the  Bronze  age.  As  therefore 
they  have  been  occupied  at  different  times  by  different 
[)eople,  some  of  them  having  even  been  still  in  use  in 
the  time  of  the  Romans,  it  is  most  diiftcult  to  fix  with 
any  precision  the  date  to  which  l)elong  the  various  ob- 
jects mixed  together  beneath  the  deep  Avatei's  of  the 
lakes.  We  can  only  say  that  the  nets  diifer  very  much 
in  the  size  of  the  meshes,  and  the  thickness  of  the 
rope  used.  Those  found  at  Robenhausen  are  vei'y 
like  those  in  use  in  France  at  the  present  day.  There 
has,  in  fact,   been   no  advance   in   the   art  of  making 


68  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

fishing-tackle  since  the  remote  days  of  the  Lake 
Dwellers. 

We  are  ia;norant  of  the  mode  of  manufacture  of 
prehistoric  nets.  Did  the  Lake  Dwellers,  as  some 
archaeologists  are  disposed  to  think,  use  a  loom  ?  Did 
they  use  shuttles  and  rollers  such  as  are  employed  by 
the  Es(|uimaux  and  Californiaus  of  the  present  day? 
It  is  impossible  to  say,  but  it  is  supposed  that  the 
bears'  teeth  sharpened  to  a  point,  found  in  some  sta- 
tions, were  used  to  tighten  the  meshes.  These  meshes 
were  generally  square,  and  each  one  was  finished  off 
with  a  knot  of  the  same  size  at  each  intersection. 

The  lead  weights  so  indispensable  to  fishermen  of 
the  present  day  for  sinking  the  nets,  were  represented 
in  prehistoric  times  by  stones.  These  stones,  which 
are  drilled  or  notched,  are  found  in  all  the  Lake  Sta- 
tions. The  fragmeuts  of  pottery  pierced  with  a  hole^ 
found  at  Schussenried,  a  Lake  Station  of  the  Stone  age 
on  the  Feder-See  (Wurtemburg),  were  probably  used 
for  the  same  purpose.  Li  some  of  the  SvNdss  Lake 
Stations  have  also  been  found  pieces  of  wood  and  cork, 
pierced  with  one  or  more  holes,  which  had  certainly 
served  as  floats. 

Numerous  stone  implements  of  the  most  primitive 
forms,  often  of  I'ock  uot  native  to  the  coimtry,  have 
been  found  in  some  of  the  islands  of  Greece,  as  well 
as  in  Corsica,  Sardinia,  Elba,  and  Sicily.  These  dis- 
coveries bear  witness  to  the  presence  of  man  in  these 
islands  at  a  very  remote  antiquity,  though  no  other 
traces  of  the  existence  of  prehistoi-ic  human  beings 
have  as  yet  been  found  there.  These  men  can  only 
have  reached  the  islands  by  way  of  the  sea.  Boats 
were  the  only  means  of  communication   between   the 


EFFOR  TS   AT  NA  VIGA  TION.  69 

Lake  Dwellers  of  Switzerland  and  the  mainland,  and, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  ancient  Scandinavians  hnnted  fisli 
on  the  dee])  ocean.  We  must  therefore  admit  that 
attempts  at  navigation  were  made  in  the  very  earliest 
days  of  humanity.  Man,  im])elled  l)y  necessity,  or 
perhaps  only  by  cni'iosity,  w\as  not  afraid  to  launch  his 
bark,  first  upon  the  rivers,  and  later  upon  the  more 
formidable  waves  of  the  sea  : 

Illi  robur  et  ass  triplex 
Circa  pectus  erat,  qui  fragilem  truci 
Commisit  pelago  ratem 
Primus.' 

The  Latin  poet  is  right,  and  we  cannot  but  admire 
those  who  were  the  first  to  brave  the  terrors  of  the 
deep  and  the  horrors  of  the  tempest ;  for  they  were 
gifted  alike  with  the  intelligence  which  conceives,  the 
courage  that  dares,  and  the  strength  that  achieves. 

Trees  torn  up  by  the  roots  by  the  force  of  the 
waters,  and  floating  on  the  surface  of  those  waters, 
naturally  attracted  the  attention  of  primeval  man,  and 
the  first  boats  were  doubtless  the  trunks  of  such  trees 
roughly  squared  and  then  hollowed  out  ^vith  the  help 
of  fire.  Later  experience  led  to  the  addition  of  a 
prow  w^hich  would  more  easily  cleave  the  water,  and 
a  stern  which  would  serve  as  a  pivot.  These  canoes, 
if  such  a  name  may  be  already  given  to  them,  were  at 
first  guided  by  branches  strip[)ed  of  their  leaves,  or 
with  long  poles.  Then  oars  or  paddles  ^vere  intro- 
duced, which  are  better  for  beating  the  w^ater,  and  in 
later  barks  traces  have  been  made  out  of  what  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  a  mast,  indicating  the  use  of  a  sail. 
The  art  of  navigation  may  now  be  said  to  have  been 

'  Horace:  "Odes,"  book  i.,  ode  iii. 


70  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

inaugurated.  In  different  parts  of  Europe  have  been 
found  boats  which  certainly  beh)ug  to  very  remote 
times,  though  their  exact  date  cannot  be  fixed.  Tlieii' 
construction  greatly  resembles  that  of  the  pirogues  of 
the  Polynesians,  or  the  kayaks  of  the  Greenlanders. 
One  of  the  most  ancient,  now  in  the  Berlin  Provincial 
Museiun,  was  taken  from  a  peat-bog  of  Brandenburg.*  It 
is  27  feet  long  and  scarcely  1(3  inches  wide. 

Sir  W.  Wilde  describes  several  boats  from  the 
marshes  and  peat-bogs  of  Ireland,^  many  of  which 
have  handles  cut  in  the  wood  at  the  ends,  by  the  help 
of  which  they  could  easily  be  dragged  along  overland. 
Sir  W.  Wilde  adds  that  the  Irish  also  used  curraghs, 
or  coracles,  which  were  mere  wicker  frames  covered 
with  the  skins  of  oxen.  These  fi'ail  barks  introduce 
us  to  a  new  mode  of  navigation ;  they  are  met  with 
not  only  in  the  different  countries  of  Europe,  but  also 
in  America,  and  were  in  nse  there  in  pre-Columbian 
times.  Even  more  interesting  examples  have  been 
found  in  Scotland.^  Towards  the  close  of  last  century 
a  pirogue  was  taken  from  the  ancient  bed  of  the 
Clyde  at  Glasgow.  Since  then  have  been  discovered, 
at  depths  varying  from  six  to  twelve  feet,  more  than 
twenty  similar  boats.  The  deposits  in  which  they  lay 
had  formerly  been  beneath  the  sea,  but  are  now  some 
twenty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  ocean.  Great 
changes  have  therefore  taken  place  since  these  barks 
were  launched  upon  the  waves."     Their  mode  of  con- 

'  Friedel  :   "  Flihrer  durcli  die  Fischerei  Abtheilung." 

^  "  A  Catalogue  of  the  Antiquities  in  the  Museum  of  the  Royal  Academy." 

^  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Scotland,  vol.  iii.  Dr.  R.  Munro  : 
"  Ancient  Scottish  Lake  Dwellings  or  Crannoges,"  Edinburgh,  1882. 

''  Geikie,  Edinburgh  Nc-.o  Philosophical  your^tal,  vol.  xv.  De  Lapparent : 
"  Traite  de  Geologic,"  first  edition,  p.  518. 


EFFORTS  AT  NAVIGATION.  7 1 

striiction  is  an  excellent  indication  of  the  date  to  which 
they  belong.  Some  which  are  hollowed  out  of  the 
trunks  of  oaks  by  the  help  of  fire,  or  with  a  blunt 
tool,  are  sup[)osed  by  Lyell  to  date  from  the  Stone  age. 
Others  have  clean-cut  notches,  evidently  made  with 
metal  implements.  Sope  are  made  of  planks  Joined 
together  with  wooden  pegs,  and  one  canoe  found  in 
County  Galway  even  contained  copper  nails.  Most  of 
the  l)oats  from  the  bed  of  the  Clyde  seem  to  have 
foundered  in  still  waters.  Some,  however,  were  dis- 
covered in  a  vertical  position,  others  had  the  keel 
u[)permost,  and  these  latter  had  evidently  sunk  in  a 
storm.  In  one  of  these  boats  was  a  diorite  hatchet  of 
the  kind  characteristic  of  Neolithic  times ;  another, 
the  wood  of  which  was  perfectly  })]ack,  had  become  as 
hard  as  marble,  and  in  it  was  a  cork  plug.  Then,  as 
now,  the  oak  which  yields  cork  was  foreign  to  the  cold 
climate  of  Scotland. 

We  will  quote  but  one  of  the  discoveries  made  in 
England.  In  1881  a  canoe,  hollowed  out  of  the  trunk 
of  a  ti-ee,  was  found  at  Bovey-Tracey  in  Devonshire. 
It  lay  in  a  de2)osit  of  brick-earth  more  than  twenty- 
nine  feet  below  the  highest  level  reached  by  the 
\vaters  of  the  Bovey.'  It  was  more  than  thirty-five 
inches  wide,  and  its  length  could  not  be  exactly 
determined,  the  workmen  having  broken  it  in  getting 
it  out.  An  eminent  archaeologist  is  of  opinion  that 
this  boat  dates  from  the  Glacial  epoch,  perhaps  even 
from  a  more  remote  time.  If  this  hypothesis,  the 
responsibility  of  which  we  leave  to  him,  be  correct, 
this  is  the  most  ancient  witness  in  existence  of  pre- 

'  "Discoveries  in  the  more  Recent  Deposits  of  the  Bovey  Basin,"  Trans. 
Devonshire  Ass.,  1883. 


72  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

historic  navisjatiou.  We  must  also  mention  a  boat 
found  near  Bi'igg  (Lincolnshire),  a  few  feet  from  a  little 
I'iver  that  flows  into  the  Humber.  It  is  about  forty- 
five  feet  long  by  three  and  a  half  feet  wide,  and  is  some 
three  feet  high.  The  prow  is  fluted.  There  are  no 
traces  of  a  mast,  though  the  size  of  the  boat  must  have 
made  it  difiicult  to  manage  with  oars  alone. 

One  of  the  pirogues  preserved  at  the  Copenhagen 
Museum  is  made  of  one  half  of  the  trunk  of  a  tree, 
some  six  feet  long,  hollowed  into  the  shape  of  a 
trough,  and  cut  straight  at  both  ends.^  It  is  curious 
to  compare  this  clumsy  structure  with  a  boat  recently 
discovered  beneath  a  tumulus  at  Gogstadten  in  Nor- 
way (Fig.  14),  t)f  which,  though  it  dates  from  historic 
times,  we  give  a  drawing,  as  it  is  a  good  illustration 
of  the  progress  made.  The  dead  Viking  had  been 
laid  in  his  boat,  as  the  most  glorious  of  tombs ;  with 
its  prow  pointing  seawards,  for  would  not  the  first 
thoutrhts  of  the  chief  when  he  awoke  in  another  life 
l)e  of  the  sea  which  had  witnessed  his  triumphs?  The 
sides  of  the  boat,  which  was  more  than  sixty-six  feet 
long  and  fifteen  across  the  widest  part,  were  painted, 
and  around  it  was  ranged  a  series  of  shields  lapping 
over  one  another  like  the  scales  of  a  fish,  and  not 
unlike  the  designs  seen  in  the  celebrated  Bayeux 
tapestiy.  A  block  of  oak  intended  to  receive  the 
mast  was  2)laced  in  the  centi'e  of  the  boat,  and  near 
the  skeleton  were  oars  some  fifteen  feet  long  and 
similar  in   form  to  those  now  in  use. 

Inlaying  the  foundations  of  the  bridge  of  Les  Inva- 
lides,  Paris,  a  boat  was  taken  out  of  the  mud  which  had 
lain   there  for    many  centui'ies.     Like    most   of  those 

'  "  Nordische  Oldsager  i  der  kongelige  Museum  i  Kjohenhawn." 


74  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

already  mentioued,  it  Lad  been  made  out  of  a  single 
trunk  roughly  squared.  Everywhere,  we  must  repeat 
once  again,  man's  original  ideas  were  the  same  ;  every- 
where the  tree  floating  on  the  top  of  the  water  excited 
his  curiosity,  and  became  the  starting-point  foi  one 
of  his  most  important  discoveries.  Traces  of  similar 
attempts  at  navigation  are  met  with  in  other  parts  of 
France  ;  a  canoe  was  found  in  the  Loire  near  Saint 
Mars,  and  the  Dijon  Museum  possesses  another  from 
the  same  river,  the  latter  some  sixteen  feet  long,  and 
traces  have  been  made  out  of  what  are  su[)posed  to  have 
been  seats,  but  may  have  been  mere  contrivances  for 
strengthening  the  boat.  A  canoe  taken  last  year  from 
the  bed  of  the  Cher  is  of  the  shape  of  a  trough  closed 
at  the  end  by  pieces  of  wood  fixed  by  means  of  vertical 
grooves.  The  prow  had  been  shaped  in  the  first 
instance  in  the  trunk  itself,  and  it  was  probably  owing 
to  an  accident,  a  collision  perhaps,  that  it  had  had  to  be 
mended  in  this  way  (Fig.  15). 

The  Lake  Dwellers  of  Switzerland  owned  boats  from 
the  time  of  their  first  settlement  in  their  water  homes. 
One  of  them  found  at  Robenhausen  is  more  than  ten 
^eet  long,  and  is  very  shallow,  varj^ing  from  six  to 
eight  inches.  Like  most  of  those  already  mentioned,  it 
was  hollowed  out  of  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  bulging  out 
towards  the  centre,  and  rounded  at  the  ends.  So  far 
none  but  stone  tools  have  been  found  at  the  station  of 
Kobenhausen,  so  that  we  must  pi-esume  that  it  was 
with  such  tools  that  the  boat  was  made.  The  lakes  of 
Bienne  and.  Geneva,  and  the  stations  of  Morges  and 
Estavayer  have  also  yielded  boats  which  are  doubtless 
less  ancient  than  those  of  which  I  have  Just  spoken. 
In  nearly  all  of  them  the  prow  is  curiously  pointed. 


76 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


One  of  them  from  the  Lake  of  Neiichatel,  large  enough 
to  hold  twelve  people,  has  a  beak  at  the  stern  and  a 
rounded  j^i'ow  ;  hut  there  is  no  sign  of  any  contrivance 
for  keeping  the  oars  in  place. 

Lastly,  a  boat  has  l)een  found  in  Svvitzei'land  some 
3,900  feet  above  the  valley  of  the  Rhine,  but  no  one 
can  say  how  it  came  to  be  at  such  a  height. 

These  canoes,  whatever  their  shape  or  size,  can  only 
have  been  worked  by  meaus  of  oars,  yet  oars  have  sel- 
dom been  found.     The  Geneva  Museum,  however,  has 


Fig.  i6. — A  lake  pirogue  found  in  the  Lake  of  Neuchatel.     i.  As  seen  from  the 
outside.     2  and  3.    Longitudinal  and  transverse  sections. 

one  which  came  from  the  muddy  bed  of  an  Italian  lake, 
and  others  are  preserved  in  the  Royal  Museum  of  Dub- 
lin, which  have  eveiy  sign  of  great  antitpiity.  In  de- 
fault of  the  actual  oars,  we  have  other  proofs  of  tlieir 
use.  Gross'  mentions  a  boat  (Fig.  lO)  in  \vhich  lioles 
had  been  made  in  the  upper  parts  of  the  sides  to  liold 
the  oai's.  In  1882  a  pirogue  was  taken  out  of  the  l)ed 
of  th(^  Rhone  at  Cordon  (Ain),  wliicli  liad  been  half 
bui'i<'(l  in  tli(^  niu<l  of  tlie  river.  The  \vood  was  ))lack 
and  the  u})per  [)ortions  were  charred,  but  th(^  middle  part 

'  "  Les  Proto-IIelvetes,"  Nature,  1880,  ist  week,  p.  151. 


*  RFFOR  TS  A  T  NA  VIGA  770 AT.  yj 

was  still  intact  and  very  hard.  The  lioles,  pierced  in 
the  sides  at  regular  interv^als,  may  have  served  to  keep 
the  oars  in  place.  The  [)<)siti()n  of  the  rowers  at  the 
bottom  of  the  boat  was  very  unsatisfactory.  It  was 
not,  however,  until  hiter  that  we  find  seats  so  placed  as 
to  enable  the  rowers  to  put  out  all  their  stiength.  At 
a  recent  meeting  of  the  Anthropological  Society  (July 
21,  1887)  M.  Letourneau  observed  that  the  rudder 
came  into  use  veiy  slowly.  It  was  not  known  to  the 
Egyptians  or  to  the  Ph(enicians,  nor,  which  is  still 
more  strange,  to  tlie  Gi'eeks  and  Romans.  Their 
vessels,  whatever  their  size,  were  guided  by  two  large 
oars  (guhevnacAilnin )  placed  in  the  stern.  The  Chi- 
nese appear  to  have  l)een  the  only  people  ^vho  were 
acquainted  with  the  use  of  the  rudder  from  time  im- 
memorial. It  is  probable  that  from  them  it  passed  to 
the  Arabs  and  even  perhaps  to  the  people  of  Europe. 

A  discover}'  made  near  Abbeville  is  the  most  ancient 
example  ^ve  have  of  the  use  of  the  mast.  Some  works 
being  executed  at  the  fortifications  of  the  town, 
brought  to  light  a  boat  which  must  have  l^eeu  some 
twenty-one  feet  long.  Two  ])i'ojections  form  part  of 
the  planking,  leaving  between  them  a  rectangular 
space  in   which   the  mast  was  probably  fixed. ^ 

Pi'ofessor  Gastaldi  speaks  of  a  wooden  anclior  taken 
from  a  peat-bog  near  Arona,  beneatli  which  was  a  pile 
dwelling.  He  dates  it  from  the  time  when  the  use  of 
bronze  was  already  beginning  to  sj^read  in  the  north  of 
Italy.  A  stone  of  [>eculiar  shape  found  at  Niddau  is, 
they  say,  an  A  nhersteiii  (anchor  stone).  This  name  is 
also  given  by  Friedel  to  a  good-sized  round  lump  of 
sandstone  with  a  deep  groove  near  the  middle.   Lastly, 

'  "  Mem.  Soc.  d'Emulation  d'Abbeville,"  1867. 


78 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


Ker viler,  in  crossing  a  basin  of  the  Bay  of  Penliouet, 
near  Saint-Nazaire,  found  several  stones  which  had 
evidently  been  used  to  keep  boats  at  anchor,  and  with 
the  aid  of  which  we  can  get  an  idea  of  the  methods 
employed  by  ancient  navigators  (Fig.  17). 

Such  are  the  only  details  we  have  on  the  important 
subject  of  prehistoric  anchors,  but  we  may  add  that 
ancient  fishermen  probably  ventured  but  a  short  dis- 


FlG.  17. — Stones  us(_-l  a^  ancli.>rs,  found  in  tlic  ILiy  of  Penhouct.  I,  2,  3, 
:;tones  weighing  about  160  pounds  carli.  4  and  5,  liglitcr  stones,  pmliahly 
used  for  canoes. 


tance  from  tlie  land,  and   would  not  need  anchors,  as 
they  could  easily  carry  their  light  boats  on  shore. 

AVe  have  now  passed  in  review  the  conditions  of  the 
life  of  our  remote  ancestors,  noting  the  animals  that 
were  their  contemporaries,  and  the  fish  that  peopled 
the  watercourses  near  which  they  lived.  We  have 
studied  the  earliest  efforts  at  navigation,  made  in  the 
pursuit  of  fish,  and  we  must  now  go  back  to  examine 
the  weapons,  tools,  and  ornaments  of  these  ancient 
peoples,  and  trace  in  those  objects  the  dawn  of  art. 
This  will  be  the  aim  of  our  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  III. 

WEAPONS,    TOOLS,  POTTERY  ;  ORIGIN  OF   THE    USE    OF  FIRE, 
CLOTHING,    ORNAMENTS  ;    EARLY    ARTISTIC    EFFORTS. 

The  Vedas  sliovv^  ns  Indra,  armed  ^vitll  a  wooden 
club,  seizing  a  stone  with  which  to  pierce  Vritra,  the 
genius  of  evil.'  Does  not  this  call  up  a  picture  of 
the  earliest  days  of  man  upon  the  earth  i  His  first 
weapon  was  doubtless  a  knotty  branch  torn  from  a 
tree  as  he  hurried  past,  or  a  stone  picked  up  from 
amongst  those  lying  at  his  feet.  These  were,  how- 
ever, but  feeble  means  with  which  to  contend  with 
formidable  feline  and  pachydermatous  enemies.  Man 
had  not  their  great  physical  strength  ;  he  was  not  so  fleet 
a  runner  as  many  of  them  ;  his  nails  and  teeth  were 
useless  to  him,  either  for  attack  oi-  defence;  his  smooth 
skin  was  not  enough  protection  even  from  the  rigor 
of  the  climate.  Such  ineipiality  must  very  quickly 
have  led  to  the  defeat  of  man,  had  not  God  given  to 
him  two  marvellous  instruments  :    the    brain  which 


'  Iiulra,  tlic  all-seer,  to  wiiom  it  is  given  to  pierce  the  cloud,  personified  by 
Vritra,  and  "to  open  the  receptacles  of  the  waters  with  his  far-reaching  thun- 
der-bolts," is  of  course  the  sun,  the  worship  of  which  was  one  of  the  earliest 
and  most  natural  instincts  of  humanity  ;  whilst  Vritra  was  in  the  first  instance 
merely  the  symbol  of  the  cloud,  intervening  between  heaven  and  earth, 
shutting  out  from  men  the  light  of  the  sun,  and  keeping  back  the  refreshing 
rain.  The  gradual  conversion  of  these  natural  phenomena  into  a  good  and  a 
malignant  power,  ever  struggling  for  the  mastery,  is  a  forcible  illustration  of  the 
way  in  which  myths  are  evolved. — Trans. 

79 


8o  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

conceives,  and  tlie  luiiid  ^^-llicll  executes.  To  bi'iite 
force  man  opposed  intelligence,  a  glorious  struggle  in 
whicli  lie  was  sure  to  come  off  victorious,  for  in  the 
words  of  Victor  Hugo,  "  Ceci  devait  tuer  cela."  The 
huge  animals  of  Quaternary  times  have  disappeared 
for  ever,  whilst  man  has  survived,  victor  over  Nature 
herself.  Even  before  his  birth,  an  inunutable  deci'ee 
had  ordained  that  nothing  on  the  eai'th  should  check 
his  development. 

Man  alone  amongst  the  countless  creatures  around 
him  knew  anything  of  the  past,  and  he  alone  was 
able  to  pi-edict  the  future.  Even  apes,  however  great 
the  intelligence  that  may  ])e  attributed  to  them,  have 
remained  very  much  ^vhat  they  were  from  the  first. 
In  vain  has  one  genei'ation  succeeded  another;  they 
still  obey  the  dictates  of  their  brutal  instincts,  as  their 
ancestors  did  before  them  ;  and  if  apes  continue  to 
propagate  their  species  thousands  of  years  hence  they 
will  remain  wliat  we  see  them  to  be  now.  Dogs,  too, 
will  remain  dogs,  ele[)hants  will  continne  to  be  ele- 
phants ;  beavei's  will  make  their  dams  exactly  like 
those  of  the  present  day,  wasps  will  never  learn  to 
make  honey  as  bees  do,  and  bees  will  never  be  al)le, 
like  ants,  to  bring  up  plant-lice  to  be  their  servants, 
or  to  enslave  other  families.  Tlieir  instincts  are  incapa- 
l>le  of  ])rogress,  and  in  their  eai'liest  efforts  they  reach 
the  limit  assigned  to  tlieni  by  the  Eternal  Wisdom. 
'I'o  mail  alone  has  it  been  given  to  understand  wliat 
has  b('(*n  done;  b)'  his  prcMlecessors,  to  walk  moi'e  firndy 
ill  tlie  path  along  whicli  they  groped,  to  ])roiiounce 
clearly  the  words  they  stammered.  Without  a  doubt 
we  descend  fi'om  the  men  who  lixcd  in  the  midst  of 
[)rimeval   forests,  oi-  amongst  stagnant  marshes,  dwell- 


WEAPONS,    TOOLS.  8 1 

iiig  in  caves,  for  the  possession  of  wliioli  tliey  often 
had  to  fight  witli  tlie  wild  l)easts  around  them.  These 
men,  howevei",  knew  that  one  i-csult  acliieved  would 
lead  to  Miiother,  if  similai'  means  were  used  ;  they  saw 
that  a  pointed  stone  would  iiiHict  a  deeper  wound  than 
a  blunt  one  on  the  animal  they  hunted,  and  therefore 
they  leai'ut  to  sliai']>eii  stones  artificially  ;  the  skins  of 
beasts,  fiuug  ovei-  their  shoulders,  pi'otected  them  from 
cold,  and  they  leai'ued  to  make  garments  ;  seeds  sju'outed 
aroun<l  them,  and  they  learned  to  plant  them  ;  they 
noticed  the  effect  of  heat  u|)on  metals,  and  tried  to  mix 
them  ;  w  ild  nnimals  wandered  around  them,  and  they 
learned  to  leduce  them  to  slavery.  Every  bit  of  knowl- 
edge won,  and  every  progress  made,  became  the  starting- 
point  for  fresh  acquisitions,  fresh  advances,  which 
thenceforth  remained  fcn-ever  the  common  heritage  of 
the  human  race. 

It  was  thus  that  experience  early  taught  our  remote 
ancestors  that  rock  chips  more  easily  under  the  blows 
of  a  hammer  when  fi'esh  from  the  quarry  ;  and  every- 
w^here  men  learnt  to  choose  the  stone  best  suited  to 
their  pui'pose.  For  hatchets,  wedges,  and  hanuners, 
they  used  Jade  and  kindred  substances,  such  as  fibro- 
lite,  diorite,  and  basalt,  which  were  at  the  same  time 
extremely  dui'able,  and  very  impei'vious  to  blows.  For 
spear-  and  ai'i'ow-heads,  knives,  saws,  and  all  instru- 
ments requii'ing  sharp  points  and  cutting  edges,  they 
employed  quartz,  jaspar,  agate,  and  obsidian,  according 
to  the  situation  of  the  worker ;  all  these  materials, 
though  extremely  hard,  l)eing  easily  split  into  thin 
sharp  flakes.  The  blocks  of  stone  were  very  methodi- 
cally cut  u}) ;  they  wei'e,  in  fact,  to  use  a  very  appro- 
priate expression  of  M.  Dupont's,  scaled  (ecuilles).  We 

6 


82 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


give  drawings  of  a  few  of  these  implements  (Figs. 
18,  19,  and  20),  which  illustrate  the  earliest  efforts  of 
man,  efforts  which  may  be  looked  upon  as  the  starting- 
point  of  all  those  industries  which  in  the  course  of 
centui'ies  have  developed  results  which  it  is  impossible 
to  contemplate  without  astonishment. 

The  most  ancient  tools  which  have  come  down  to  us 
were  clumsy  and  heavy,  cut  <>n  both  sides  and  pointed 


Fin.  iS. — Scraper  from  the  Dela- 
ware Valley. 


Fig.  ig. — Implement  from 
the  Delaware  Valley. 


(Fig.  20).  They  may  vaiy  in  material,  in  size,  and  in 
finish,  but  they  can  always  be  easily  recognized.* 
Were  they  man's  only  weapons?  We  hesitate  to  be- 
lieve it,  and  the  careful  researches  of  M.  d'Acy  add 
to  our  incredulity .~     He  tells  us  that  at  Saint- Acheul, 

'  De  Mortillet  :  "  Le  Prehistoriqiie,"  Paris,  1883,  p.  133. 

'^  "  I,imoii  du  riateau  du  Nord  de  la  PVance,"  Paris,  1S78.  Acheuleen  et 
Mousterien  :  Revue  i/es  Questions  Scientijiqjies,  October,  iSSo.  Bui.  Soc. 
Anih.,  1884,  1887. 


WEAPONS,    TOOLS. 


83 


whicli  was  the  very  cradle  of  these  strange  discoveries, 
the  almond  shape  is  found  mixed  with  the  pointed 
amongst  the  Moiistier  flints,  so  that  what  is  ti'iie  in  one 
phice  is  not  in  another,  and  any  general  conclusion 
would  certainly  be  prematui'e. 

It  would  take  us  a  Ions:  time  to  enumerate  the  conn- 
tries  where  tools  of  the  Chelleen '  type  have  Ijeen  found. 
Thej'   are   met   with   in   the   valleys   of  the   rivei's  of 


Fig.  20. — Worked  flints  from  the  Lafaye  and  I'lantade  slielters  (Tarn-et- 

Garonne). 

France,  now  imbedded  in  the  flinty  alluvium,  now 
strewn  upon  the  surface  of  the  soil.  Though  rare  in 
Germany,  they  are  found  in  abundance  in  the  southeast 
of  England,  and  it  is  to  this  period  that  must  be 
assigned  the  discoveries  at  Hoxne,  and  in  the  basins 
of  the  Thames,  the  Ouse,  and  the  Avon.  Similar  dis- 
coveries have   been  frequent  in  Italy,  Spain,  Algeria, 

'  ChelUen,  so  called  from  their  having  been  found  at  Chelles  (Seine-et-Marne), 
where  the  remains  of  the  Elephas  aiitiqiius,  the  most  ancient  of  the  pachyderms 
now  known  in  Europe,  was  associated  with  these  tools. 


84  PREinSTORIC  PEOPLES. 

and  Hindostan.  Dr.  Al)bott  s[)eaks  of  tlie  finding  of 
sucli  implements  in  tlie  glacial  alluvium  of  the  Dela- 
ware (Figs.  18  and  19),  Miss  Babitt  in  the  alluvial 
deposits  of  the  Mississippi,  Mr.  Playnes  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, Ml'.  Holmes  in  Colomljia,  and  other  explorei"s  in 
the  basin  of  the  Bridget  and  at  Guanajuato  in  Mexico. 
Everywhere  these  implements  are  identical  in  shape 
and  in  mode  of  consti-uction,  and  ver}^  often  they  are 
associated  with  the  l)ones  of  animals  of  extinct  species. 

Sometimes  these  Chelleen  tools  (the  French  call 
them  coups  de  poing)  have  retained  at  the  base  a  pro- 
jection to  enable  the  user  to  grasp  them  Ijetter;  these 
certainly  never  had  handles,  but  it  will  not  do  to  draw 
any  general  conclusions  fi'om  that  fact ;  and  an  exami- 
nation of  the  collection  of  M.  d'Acy,  the  most  complete 
we  have  of  relics  of  the  Chelleen  period,  [)r(^ves  on  the 
contrary  that  certain  tools  could  not  have  been  used 
unless  they  had  been  fixed  into  handles. 

In  the  following  epoch,  to  \vhich  has  been  given  the 
name  of  Mousterien,  from  the  Moustier  Cave  (Dor- 
dogne),  ^ve  already  meet  Avith  more  vai'ied  forms,  in- 
cluding scrapers,  saws,  knife-blades,  and  spear-  or 
arrow-heads,  witli  the  special  characteristic  of  ])eing 
cut  on  one  side  only.  These  implements  are  found  not 
only  in  the  alluvium  as  ai-e  the  Chelleen  coups  de  p>oirig, 
l)ut  also  in  the  cave  or  ]'ock-shelter  deposits.  Amongst 
the  mammalian  remains  with  which  they  are  associated 
are  those  of  the  mammoth,  the  IlJi i nocei'os  tichorliinus, 
the  elk,  the  horse,  the  aurochs,  the  cave-lion,  tlie  cave- 
hyena,  and  the  cave-bear,  remarkable  for  the  constancy 
of  theii-  chai-acteristics.  The  Kleplias  antuin  ns  and  the 
Itliiuoceros  Merckii  that  belonged  to  the  preceding 
period    have    w(^\\   comph^tely   }»assed    a.\va\,    and    the 


WEAPONS,     TOOLS.  85 

reindeer,  now  appearing  for  tlie  fii-st  time,  are  still  far 
from  numerous. 

In  the  Solutreen  period,  so  named  after  the  cele- 
brated Lake  Station  of  Solutre,  we  find  stalked  arro^v- 
heads  with  lateral  notches,'  flint-heads  of  the  form  of 
laurel  leaves,  which  are  remarkable  for  their  regularity 
of  shape  and  delicacy  of  finish  ;  as  compared  with  those 
of  previous  periods,  the  forms  are  much  more  delicate 
and  elegant.  Many  of  the  caves  of  the  south  of  France 
belong  to  this  pei'iod.  It  is  difficult  to  mention  them 
all,  and  even  more  difficult  to  make  out  a  complete  list 
of  contemporary  mammalia ;  the  dej)osits  generally 
actually  touch  those  of  another  period,  and  the  separa- 
tion of  the  objects  in  them  has  not  always  been  made 
with  all  the  cai"e  that  could  be  wished.  At  Solutre, 
remains  of  the  horse  |)redominate ;  whilst  in  other 
places  those  of  the  reindeei*  ai-e  met  with  in  consider- 
able quantities,  and  with  them  are  found  the  bones  of 
the  cave-bear,  the  wild  cat  (a  creature  considerably 
lai'gei'  than  the  tigers  of  the  present  day),  and  of  the 
mammoth,  which  lived  on  in  Eiu'ope  many  centuries. 

Lastly  to  the  Madeleine  period,  so  named  after  the 
Madeleine  Cave  (Dordogne),  and  considered  one  of  the 
most  important  of  the  cave  e[)ochs,  belong  tools  and 
weapons  of  all  manner  of  shapes  and  materials,  in(;]u- 
ding  bone,  horn,  and  reindeer  antlers ;  fi-om  this  time 
also  date  barl)ed  arrows  and  harpoons,  batons  of  office, 
telling  of  social  organization  ;  the  engravings  and  carv- 
ings on  which  bear  witness  to  the  development  of 
artistic  feeling.  On  the  other  hand,  the  flint  arrow- 
heads and  knife-blades  are  not  so  finely  cut ;  we  see 
that  man  had  learned  to  use  other  materials  than  stone. 


'  De  Mortillet  :  "  Musee  Prehistorique,"  pi.  xvi.  to  xix. 


86  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

The  reindeer  is  the  most  characteristic  animal  form  of 
the  Madeleine  period. 

To  the  times  we  have  just  passed  in  review  succeeded 
others  of  a  very  diffei'ent  kind,  to  which  has  been  given 
the  general  name  of  Neolithic.  The  fauna,  probably 
under  tlie  influence  of  climatic  and  orographic  changes, 
underwent  a  com[)lete  transformation ;  the  mammoth, 
the  cave-bear,  the  megaceros,  and  the  large  felidse  died 
out,  the  hippopotamus  was  no  longer  seen,  except  in 
the  heart  of  Africa ;  the  reindeer  and  otlier  mammals 
that  love  to  frequent  the  regions  of  perpetual  snow, 
retired  to  the  extreme  north;  and  in  their  place  ap- 
j)eared  our  earliest  domestic  animals,  the  ox,  the  sheep, 
the  goat,  and  the  dog.  Man,  who  witnessed  these 
changes,  continued  to  progress ;  he  al)andoned  his 
nomad  for  a  sedentary  life;  he  ceased  to  be  a  hunter, 
and  became  an  agriculturist  and  a  shepherd.  Every- 
w^here  we  meet  with  traces  of  new  customs,  new  ideas, 
and  a  new  mode  of  life.  This  progress  is  especially 
seen  in  the  industrial  arts.  Metals  it  is  true  are  still 
unknown,  l)ut  side  by  side  witli  tools,  which  are  merely 
chipped  or  roughly  cut,  we  find  for  the  first  time 
hatchets,  celts,  small  knife-blades,  and  arrow-heads 
admiral)ly  polished  by  tlie  long-continued  rubbing  of 
one  stone  on  another.  Polishers,  so  much  worn  as  to 
bear  witness  to  long  service,  are  numerous  in  all  collec- 
tions, and  rocks  and  erratic  blocks  retain  incisions 
which  must  have  been  used  foi*  the  same  purpose.^ 

It  is  impossible  to  enumerate  the  number  of  polished 
hatchets  which  have  been  found  ;  their  number  is  sim- 
ply incalculal)le.     Of  all  of  them,   however,  those  of 

'  M.  de  Mortillet  enumerates  127  polishers  found  at  various  points  in  thirty 
departments  of  France.      "  I.e  Prehistoriipie,"  first  edition,  p.  534. 


WEAPONS.    TOOLS.  ^J 

Scandinavia  are  tlie  most  I'emarkable  for  delicacy  of 
workmanship.  With  the  fine  hatchets  of  Brittany, 
may  be  compared  the  blades  found  at  Volgu,  and  pre- 
served in  the  Museum  of  Copenhagen,  and  those  in 
pink,  gray,  and  brown  flint,  fr<^m  the  Sordes  Cave  in 
the  south  of  France  ;  l)ut  we  cannot  fix  the  date  of  the 
production  of  any  of  them.  One  of  the  great  difficul- 
ties of  prehistoric  researcli,  a  difficulty  not  to  be  got 
over  in  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge,  is  to  dis- 
tinguish with  any  certainty  the  periods  into  which  an 
attem[)t  has  been  made  to  divide  the  life-story  of  man 
from  his  fii'st  appearance  upon  earth. 

Was  there  any  abrupt  transition  from  one  period  to 
another  ?  Must  we  accept  the  theory  of  a  long  break 
caused  by  geological  phenomena,  and  the  temporary 
depopulation  which  was  one  of  the  consequences  of 
these  phenomena  ?  Did  the  new  era  of  civilization 
date  from  the  arrival  of  foreign  I'aces,  stronger  and 
better  fitted  tlian  those  they  succeeded  for  the  struggle 
for  existence  ?  Or  are  these  changes  merely  the  result 
of  the  natural  progress  which  is  one  of  the  laws  of  our 
being  ?  These  questions  cannot  now  be  solved,  and  if 
the  industries  which  are  at  the  present  moment  the  object 
of  our  researches,  bear  vvitness  to  the  employment  of  a 
new  process,  that  of  polishing,  we  are  bound  to  add 
that  everywhere  Palaeolithic  forms  are  still  persistent. 
Flints,  merely  chipped,  are  clumsy  tools,  but  there  is 
no  break  in  their  series  till  we  come  to  the  splendid 
specimens  from  Scandinavia  or  from  Mexico.  Of  the 
seven  types  of  the  Solutreen  period,  six  are  met  with 
in  the  time  now  under  consideration.^  Five  types  of 
Solutreen  javelins  have  also  been  found  in  the  Durfort 

'  Piette  :   Ass.  Franc,  four  l' Avauccment  Jcs  Sciences,  Nantes,  1875,  p.  9O9. 


88  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

Cave,  and  beneath  the  dolmens  of  Aveyron  and  of  Lozere. 
Neolithic  weapons,  such  as  those  found  in  the  Moiistier 
Cave,  are  not  so  numerous,  but  the  type  adopted  there 
is  not  such  a  fine  one  nor  so  carefully  finished,  which 
accounts  for  its  having  been  more  rarely  copied.  If  we 
examine  the  knives,  awls,  scrapers,  and  saws,  \\q  come 
to  the  same  conclusion,  altliough  comparison  is  not  so 
easy.  "  A  knife  is  always  a  knife,  an  awl  is  always  an 
awl,"  remarks  M.  Cartailhac  ;  "  they  were  made  at  every 
period,  and  their  resemblance  to  each  other  proves 
nothing  with  any  certainty." 

Rounded  stones  of  granite  or  sandstone  seem  how- 
ever to  have  been  wea[)ons  peculiar  to  the  Neolithic 
period.  Dr.  Pommerol  recently  spoke  at  the  Anthro- 
pological kSociety  of  Paris,  of  two  such  rounded  stones 
picked  up  in  the  Puy-de-D6me.  Similar  stones  have 
been  discovered  at  Viry-Noureuil,  and  M.  Massenat  has 
one  in  his  collection  from  Chez-Pourre.  Are  uot  these 
rounded  stones  of  a  similar  character  to  the  l>olas  flung 
by  the  ancient  (rauls,  and  still  in  use  amongst  the  in- 
habitants of  the  pampas  of  South  America  ? 

As  "\ve  have  already  remarked,  man  from  the  earliest 
times  must  often  have  held  in  his  hands  the  stones 
which  served  him  as  weapons  or  as  tools.  The  marks 
of  hanmiering  on  the  smooth  surfaces,  the  rounded 
projections  and  the  grooves  worked  in  these  stones, 
were  evidently  made  to  prevent  the  hand  or  the  thumb 
from  slipping.  Soon,  however,  reflection  led  man  to 
undei'stand  the  increase  of  force  he  would  gain  by  the 
addition  to  the  stone  of  a  handle  of  wood  or  liorn,  stag 
or  reindeer  antler.  This  addition  of  a  liandle  was  sim- 
ple enough :  tlie  ^vorkman  mei'ely  bound  it  to  the 
hatchet  with  fllu'ous  roots,  leather  thongs,  or  ligaments 


WEAPO.VS,     TOOLS. 


89 


taken  from  tlie  gut  of  the  aiiimuls  slain  in  the  chase 
(Fig.  21).  At  first  sight  we  are  astonished  at  the 
results  obtained  with  such  wretched  materials,  but  it 
is  impossible  to  dispute  them,  for  we  have  seen  the 
same  thing  done  in  our  own  day. 

Other  hatchets,  chiefly  those  of  a  small  size,  were 
fixed  into  sheaths  made  of  stagdiorn,  and  two  chief 
types  of   them   have  actually   been   made   out.'     The 


Fig.  21. — I.    Stone  JAvclin-head  with  handle.      2.   Stone  hatchet  u  ith  handle. 

sheaths  of  the  first  type  are  short  and  end  in  quad- 
langular  heads.  They  are  found  most  frequently  in 
Switzerland,  in  the  basins  of  the  Rhone  and  of  the 
Saone,  and  throughout  the  south  of  France.  Those  of 
the  second  type  ai-e  pierced  ^vith  a  hole  large  enough 
to  pass  the  handle  through.  These  are  found  in  the 
northwest  of  France,  in  Belgium,  and  in  England. 


1  De  Mortillet 
431  to  434. 


"  Le  Prehistorique,"  p.   544  ;  "  Musee  Prehistorique,"  figs. 


90  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

Flint  arrows  of  triangular  or  oval  form,  notched  or 
stalked,  were  everywhere  used  for  a  considerable  length 
of  time.  They  are  found  in  the  numerous  caves  of 
France,  beneath  the  antaa  of  Portugal,  in  the  tombs  of 
Mykenae,  as  well  as  among  the  Ainos  of  Japan  and  the 
Patagonians  of  South  America.  Their  use  necessarily 
involves  that  of  a  bow,  yet  we  do  not  know  of  a  single 
weapon  such  as  that,  or  of  one  that  could  take  its 
place,  dating  from  PaLi^olithic  times.  Pi'obably  the 
rapid  decomj^osition  of  the  wood  of  w^hicli  bows  were 
made  has  led  to  their  disappearance.  De  Mortillet^ 
mentions  a  bow  found  in  a  pile-dwelling  in  a  bog  near 
Kobenhausen,  which  he  ascribes  to  the  Neolithic  period. 
Another  is  known  which  was  found  at  Lutz,  also  in 
Switzerland.  To  all  appearance  the  most  ancient 
bows  of  historic  times  greatly  resemble  these  two  pre- 
historic examples. 

Though  flint  was  the  material  'par  excellence  of 
Quaternary  times  for  weapons  and  tools,  it  could  not 
Ions:  suffice  for  the  ever-o^i'owino-  needs  of  man.  Our 
museums  contain  a  complete  series  of  bone  or  stag-horn 
implements  such  as  darts,  ari'ow^- heads,  barbed  arrows, 
harpoons,  fibuL-^e,  and  finely  cut  needles  often  j^ierced 
with  eyes  (Fig.  22).  The  invention  of  barbs  is  worthy 
of  special- notice ;  the  series  of  points  made  the  blow 
much  more  dangerous,  as  the  projectile  remained  in 
the  flesh  of  a  wounded  animal  which  was  not  able  to 
get  it  out.  But  this  was  not  the  only  object  of  the 
barbs.  Arranged  symmetrically  on  either  side  of  the 
arrow  they  kej^t  it  afloat  in  the  air  like  the  wings  of  a 
bird,  which  may  perhaps  have  suggested  their  use  and 
increased  the  effect  and  precision  of  the  shot. 

'  "  Musee  rreliistorique,"  fig.  410. 


92 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


The  Marsoiilas  Cave  lias  yielded  one  bevelled  arrow 
shaft,  made  of  reindeer  antler,  with  a  deep  groove  on 
the  surface.  A  similar  arrow-head  was  found  in  tlie 
Paeai'd  CVave,  and  in  other  places  arrows  have  been 
found  with  one  or  more  grooves  on  the  surface.  Were 
these  grooves  or  drills  intended  to  hold  poison,  and 
was  man  already  acquainted  with  this  melancholy 
mode  of  destruction  ?  We  kno^\'  that  the  use  of  poison 
was  known  at  the  most  remote  historic  antiquity.^ 
The  Greeks  and  Scythians  used  the  venom  of  the 
viper,  and  other  peoples  employed  vegetable  poisons. 
There  is  nothing  to  prevent  our  believing  that  similar 
methods  were  in  use  in  prehistoric  times. 


Fig.  23 — Amulet  made  of  the  peiiien  bone  of  a  bear,  and  found  in  tlie 
Marsoulas  Cave. 


There  is  no  doubt  that  it  is  the  caves  of  the  south 
of  France  which  have  yielded  the  most  interesting 
objects ;  needles  ^vith  drilled  eyes,  and  barbed  arrows 
have  been  picked  up  in  considerable  numbers  at 
Eyzies,  Laugerie-Basse,  at  Bruniquel,  Massat,  and  in  the 
Madeleine  Cave.  Dr.  Garriccou  mentions  some  rein 
deer  or  I'oebuck  antlers  found  in  Ariege  caves,  which 
had  been  made  int(j  regular  stilettos.  In  the  deposits 
at  Lafaj'e  were  found  stilettos  or  bodkins,  varying  in 
length  from  two  to  six  inches;  needles  measuring 
from  nineteen  to  <me  hundred  and  five  millimeti'es 
and    pi'ovided    \\\{\\    eyes;    at    Marsoulns    wei'e    found 


'  Lagneau  :    "  De   TUusage   des   Fleches   empoisonnees   chez    les   Anciens 
Peuples  I'Europe,"  Ac.  Jes  Insc,  2d  November,  1S77. 


WEAPONS,    TOOLS. 


93 


an  amulet  made  of  the  peuien  bone  of  a  bear  (Fig.  23), 
some  pendants,  and  some  pointed  pieces  of  bone  whicli 
astonisli  us  1)}^  tlie  delicacy  of  their  workmanship,  and 
the  drawings  with  which  they  were  adorned. 

At  Paviland,  Dr.  Buckland  discovered  a  wolf  bone 
cut  to  a  point.  Kent's  Hole  yielded  a  number  of 
needles  resembling  those  of  the  Madeleine  Cave ;  at 
Aggtelek  (Hungary)  were  found  some  bones  of  the 
cave-bear  2»()inte<l  to  serve  as  daggers,  cut  into  scrapers 


Fig.  2|. — \'aiiinis  stone  aiicl  bnne  objects  from  California. 


or  pierced  to  serve  as  amulets  or  ornaments.  In  Bel- 
gium, objects  very  similar  to  these  have  been  found 
made  of  reindeer  antler  and  datins;  from  the  most  re- 
mote  times.  The  antlers  moulted  l)y  the  reindeer  in 
the  spring  were  in  especial  re(piest. 

Excavations  in  the  sepulchral  mounds  near  San 
Francisco  (California)  have  yielded  thousands  of  bone 
implements  (Fig.  24).  Others  similar  to  them  have 
been  found  in  the  layers  of  cinders  at  Madisouville 


94  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

(Ohio)  and  l)eneatli  the  iminei'oiis  kitcheu-midclings  of 
the  coasts  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific. 

The  })i'ocesses  employed  by  the  cave-iueii  w  ere  very 
simple.  In  one  of  the  excavations  superintended  ])y 
him,  M.  Diipont  ^  picked  up  the  radius  of  a  horse  bear- 
ing synnnetrically  made  incisions  executed  with  a  view 
to  getting  off  splinters  of  the  bone.  These  splinters 
wei'e  rounded  by  rubbing  either  with  chips  of  flint, 
or  on  such  polishers  as  are  to  be  seen  in  any  of  the 
nmseums ;  then  one  end  was  sharpened,  and  the  other, 
if  need  were,  pierced  with  a  hole.  It  is  astonishing 
to  find  some  of  them  as  fine  as  the  steel  needles  of  the 
present  day,  and  with  perfectly  round  eyes  made  ^vith 
the  help  of  nothing  but  a  rough  flint,  and  there  would 
still  be  some  doubt  on  the  subject,  if  M.  Lartet  ^  had 
not  obtained  exactly  similar  results  by  working  on 
fraixments  of  bone  an  ith  the  flints  he  had  found  in  these 
excavations.  Other  experiments  of  a  similar  kind 
were  no  less  conclusive,  for  Merk^  perforated  an  ivory 
plaque  with  a  pointed  flint  which  he  used  as  a  gimlet. 

Some  objects,  which  are  supposed  to  date  from  Neo- 
lithic times,  bear  witness  to  an  altogether  unexpected 
degree  of  civilization.  In  the  heart  of  Germany,  in 
the  peat-bogs  of  Laybach  and  Worbzig  on  the  banks 
of  the  Saale,  have  been  found  earthenware  spoons 
of  the  shape  of  modern  spatulse;  at  GeraflSn  on  Lake 
Bienne,  a  finely  shaped  spoon  made  of  the  wood  of  a 
yew  tree  ;  and  at  Lagozza,  another  in  shining  black 
earthenwai'e.  Lartet  had  ah'eady  bi'ouglit  to  light  a 
bone  implement  covered  with  ornaments  in  relief  which 

'  "  Les  Temps  Prehistoriques  en  Belgique,"  p.  151. 
*  "  Reliquiae  Aquitanicse,"  p.  127. 
^Nature,  1876,  second  week,  p.  5. 


POTTERY. 


95 


lie  ascril)ed  to  the  Palaeolithic  period,  and  which  he 
imagined  had  been  used  for  extracting  niari'ow ;  and 
another  archaeologist  tells  of  objects  in  reindeer  autler 
found  in  the  Gourdan 


Cave,  which  he  thinks 
were  used  for  a  similar 
purpose.  In  the  Saint- 
Germain  Museum  are 
preserved  the  remains 
of  spoons  from  the  bed 
of  the  Seine,  and  in  the 
collections  of  England 
are  fragments  of  bone 
taken  from  beneath  the 
AVest-Kennet  dolmen, 
which  w^ere  all  prob- 
al)ly  employed  for  extract- 
ing marrow.  But  the  most 
important  discovery  of  all, 
which  leaves  no  doubt  on  the 
subject,  is  that  made  by  M. 
Perrault  at  the  Chassey  Camp, 
near  Chalon-sur-Saone,  beneath 
a  hearth  dating  from  Neolithic 
times.  He  collected  fourteen 
earthenware  spoons ;  one  of 
them  of  a  round  shape  and 
remarkable  for  its  size,  was 
unfortunately  broken  (Fig.  25). 
It  is  of  brown  earthenware  with  a  rather  rou2:h  surface 
mixed  with  bits  of  flint,  and  is  so  much  worn  that  it 
had  evidently  been  in  use  a  long  time.  Lastly  two 
spoons,  also  of  earthenware,  have  recently  been  found 


Fui.  25. — Dipper  found  in 
the  excavations  at  tlie  the  Chas- 
sey Camp. 


96  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

near  Dondas  (Lot-et-Garoiine).  The  use  of  spoons, 
which  certainly  marked  considera])le  })rogress,  must 
therefore  have  spread  I'apidly. 

Long  previously,  ll()^vever,  pottery  of  a  great  variety 
of  form  ])ore  witness  to  the  plastic  skill  of  man.  Every- 
where we  find  vessels  of  coarse  material  mixed  with 
grains  of  sand  or  mica  to  give  more  consistency  to  the 
paste  which  was  baked  in  the  fire,  and  had  often  no 
further  ornamentation  than  the  marks  of  the  fingers  of 
the  potter.  Does  this  pottery  date  from  Pah*olithic 
times,  or  were  the  earthenware  vessels  later  additions 
at  the  time  of  those  disturbances  of  de[)osits  which  are 
the  despair  of  archaeologists  ?  A  few  examples  may 
enable  us  l)etter  to  answer  this  cpiestion. 

Fraas  tells  us  that  fragments  of  pottery  have  been 
found  in  all  the  caves  of  Germany  in  which  excavations 
have  been  made.  He  quotes  that  of  Hohlefels,  where 
he  himself  picked  up  such  fragments  amongst  the  bones 
of  the  mastodon,  the  mammoth,  the  rhinoceros,  and  the 
cave-lion,  when  the  remains  of  these  animals  were  for 
the  first  time  found  in  Germany.  In  1872,  the  making 
of  the  railway  from  Nuremberg  to  Ratisbon  brought 
to  light  a  cave  of  considerable  depth.  In  its  lower 
deposits  were  found  nothing  but  the  bones  of  hyenas, 
bears,  and  lions,  of  which  the  cave  had  been  the  resort 
for  centuries.  Among  the  most  ancient  deposits,  relics 
of  a  similar  kind  were  found  in  abundance,  but  now 
mixed  with  numerous  fi'agments  of  pottery,  worked 
flints,  and  fish  bones,  including  those  of  the  carp  and 
the  pike,  with  the  bones  of  mammals,  amongst  which 
predominated  those  of  the  rhinoceros,  most  of  them 
intentionally  split  open.  At  Argecilla,  twenty  leagues 
from  Madrid,  Vilanova  discovered  a  regular  workshop, 


POTTERY.  97 

in  whicli  were  knives  and  flint  arrow-heads,  together 
with  some  very  primitive  pottery  made  of  clay  that 
had  evidently  been  brought  from  a  distance,  as  there 
is  none  in  the  district  in  which  the  pottery  was  found. 
In  an  upper  deposit  Vilanova  collected  more  than  two 
hundred  implements  made  of  diorite,  a  rock  frequently 
used  in  Spain,  some  very  remarkable  celts  of  serpentine 
dating  from  the  Neolithic  j)eriod,  and  numerous  frag- 
ments of  very  delicate  pottery.  Not  far  off  he  dis- 
covered another  workshop,  containing  some  very  fine 
hatchets  perfectly  polished,  and  some  keramic  ware 
tastily  ornamented.  The  progress  made  is  as  marked 
in  the  weapons  and  tools  as  in  the  pottery. 

We  have  also  seen  some  fragments  of  earthenware 
from  the  caves  of  Chiampo  and  Laglio,  near  Lake  Como, 
and  from  that  known  as  the  Cave  dei  Colombi,  in  the 
island  of  Palmaria,  \vhich  was  occupied  shortly  before 
the  Neolithic  period.  But  it  is  Belgium  which  yields 
the  most  decisive  proof  on  this  subject,  and  a  visit  to 
the  Brussels  Museum  is  enough  to  convince  the  most 
incredulous.  The  excavations  made  under  M.  Dupout 
in  the  caves  of  the  Meuse  and  the  Lesse  have  again 
and  again  brought  to  light  fragments  of  pottery,  asso- 
ciated with  the  bones  of  Pali^olithic  animals.  Schmer- 
ling,  too,  had  already  found  similar  fragments  in  the 
Engis  Cave,  mixed  with  flint  weapons  of  the  rudest 
description  ;  and  his  discoveries  have  been  strikingly 
confirmed  by  those  recently  made  at  Spy,  near  Namur,' 
and  by  others  made  by  M.  Fraipont.^  In  portions  of 
this  same  Engis  Cave   not   previously   explored    the 

'  In  this  cave,  in  the  second  ossiferous  deposit,  were  found  four  fragments  of 
pottery.     De  Puydt  and  Lohest  :   "  L'Homme  Contemporain  du  Mammouth." 
'  "  La  poterie  en  Belgique  a  1'  age  du  mammouth,"  Revue  d' Anthropologic, 

7 


98 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


learned  professor  of  Liege  found,  in  1887,  fragments  of 
a  vase  of  ovoid  form,  some  flints  of  the  Moiistcrien 
type,  and  some  bones  of  extinct  mammals.  Most  of 
the  pottery  in  the  Brussels  Museum  is  black  and  of 
primitive  make  ;  some  few  fragments,  ho^vever,  are  of 
finished  workmanship.  We  may  mention  especially  an 
ovoid  vase,  remarkable  for  its  size  and  for  its  lateral  pro- 
jections. This  vase, 
which  is  hand-mod- 
elled, came  from  the 
Frontal  Cave ;  the 
clay  is  of  blackish 
hue  mixed  with  little 
bits  of  calcareous  spar. 
M.  Ordinaire,  Vice- 
Consul  for  France  at 
Callao,  speaks  of  the 
cayaties  or  7nacahuas, 
which  are  earthen- 
ware basins  of  great 
symmetry  of  form, 
made  by  the  Combos 
women,  without  turn- 


&.T. 


Fig.  26. — Pottery  of  a  so  far  unclassified  type    \\\(y  whecls  Or  mills  of 
found  in  the  Argent  Cave  (France).  i  •     -,      rT\^  i    1 1 

anykmd.  i  hough  the 
elegant  shape  of  the  Frontal  and  other  vases  at  first 
surprises  us,  reflection  convinces  us  that  men  who  could 
cut  stones  with  such  rare  skill  would  certainly  be  able 
to  produce  equally  good  pottery. 

Similar  instances  may  easily  be  quoted  from  France. 
Excavations  at  Solutre  have  yielded  several  fragments 
of  yellow,  hand-made  pottery  very  iusufiiciently  baked ; 
and  other  pieces  have  been  found  in  the  peat-bogs  of 


POTTERY.  99 

Bastide  de  Beam  witli  tlie  boues  of  reindeer,  and  worked 
flints  similar  to  those  found  in  Quaternary  deposits. 
We  may  add  that  at  Lafaye,  Bize,  and  Pondre 
(Hainault)  discoveries  were  made  of  pottery  mixed 
witli  human  remains  and  with  those  of  animals  now 
extinct ;  and  in  the  Argent  Cave  (Basses- Alpes)  a 
new  type,  shown  in  Fig.  26,  has  been  found  which 
merits  special  attention.  In  the  very  earliest  days  of 
prehistoric  research  the  Nabrigas  Cave  (Lozere)  was 
excavated  by  M.  Joly,  who  found  in  it  many  fragments 
of  pottery.  In  a  volume  published  shortly  before  his 
death  he  relates  the  circumstances  of  his  discovery,  and 
earnestly  maintains  its  authenticity.  Later  excavations, 
made  under  the  direction  of  masters  in  prehistoric 
science,  would  have  thrown  some  doubts  on  the  as- 
sertions made  by  the  professor  of  Toulouse,  if  MM. 
Martel  and  Launay  had  not  brought  forward  a  fresh 
proof  in  support  of  it.  "  On  the  30th  August,  1885,"' 
they  say,  "we  picked  up  at  Nabrigas  in  a  deep  hole, 
untouched  by  previous  excavations  and  not  displaced 
by  water,  some  human  bones  and  a  piece  of  j^ottery 
side  by  side  with  two  skeletons  of  Urs2(s  sj)elceus.  The 
human  bones,  of  indeterminate  race,  included  an  upper 
left  maxillary,  still  retaining  three  teeth,  an  incomplete 
mastoid  apophysis,  and  seven  pieces  of  crania,  belong- 
ing to  different  individuals.  The  piece  of  pottery  only 
measured  one  and  a  half  by  two  and  a  quarter  inches ; 
the  clay  is  gray  and  friable,  bound  together  with  big 
bits  of  quartz,  mica,  and  a  few  particles  of  charcoal." 
There  would  appear  to  be  no  sufficient  reason  to  ques- 
tion the  exactness  of  a  discovery  so  carefully  studied. 

'  Ac.  des  Sciences,  Nov.  9,  1885.      We   must   add   that   at   a  later  seance  M. 
Cartailhac  contested,  if  not  the  facts,  the  conclusions  deducted  from  them. 


lOO  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

Many  eminent  archaeologists,  however,  maintain  that 
pottery  was  completely  unknown  in  Palaeolithic  times, 
and  they  do  not  hesitate  to  attribute  to  a  later  period 
any  deposit  in  which  it  occurs  where  its  presence 
cannot  be  accounted  for  by  later  displacements.  M. 
Cartailhac  declares  that  he  has  never  been  able  to 
establish  either  in  the  south  of  France  or  in  the  cen- 
tral table-land  a  single  fact  w^hich  justifies  us  in  assert- 
ing that  the  men  of  the  Reindeer  period,  still  less  those 
of  earlier  epochs,  knew  how  to  make  pottery.  The 
first  explorers,  he  adds,  did  not  always  distinguish 
with  sufficient  care  the  vestiges  of  different  epochs, 
the  relics  of  diverse  origins.  How  often  have  bones 
carried  along  by  water,  or  brought  where  they  are 
found  by  animals,  been  mixed  with  those  abandoned 
by  men,  or  the  deposits  of  the  Neolithic  period  with 
those  of  the  earliest  Quaternary  times !  How  often 
have  the  contents  of  a  passage  giving  access  to  a  cave 
been  confounded  with  those  of  the  cave  itself  !  Hence 
deplorable  errors,  which  it  is  impossible  to  rectify 
now.  Evans  and  Geikie  in  their  turn  assert  the 
absence  in  England^  of  Palaeolithic  pottery,  and  Sir 
J.  Lubbock  energetically  maintains  this  opinion. 

Doubtless  these  are  great  authorities,  and  yet,  in 
view  of  the  facts  now  known,  it  is  difficult  to  believe 
that  man  w^as  long  a  stranger  to  the  art  of  making 
pottery.  Its  invention  i-equired  no  great  effort  of 
intelligence,  and  its  fabrication  presented  no  great 
difficulties.      Man    had    but    to    knead    the  soft    clay 

'  But  what  is  the  value  of  categorical  assertions  of  this  kind  in  presence  of 
the  fragments  of  pottery  found  at  different  levels  in  Kent's  Hole  ?  One  of 
these  fragments  was  so  rotten  that  when  placed  in  water  it  formed  a  black 
liquid  mud  as  it  decomposed. 


ORIGIN  OF    riTR    USE    OF  FIRR.  lOI 

whicli  lie  trod  uiuler  liis  foot,  and  the  plasticity  of 
which  he  could  not  fail  to  notice.  This  clay  hardened 
in  the  sun,  and  hollows  were  formed  as  it  shrunk — the 
first  vessel  was  discovered  !  Experience  soon  taught 
man  to  replace  the  heat  of  the  sun  by  that  of  the  fire, 
and  to  add  a  fe^v  bits  of  some  hard  substance  to  give 
the  clay  greater  consistency.  These  first  crude  and 
clumsy  vases  have  been  preserved  to  our  own  day  as 
irrefutable  witnesses  to  the  work  of  our  ancestors. 
Though,  therefore,  we  cannot  be  sure  that  pottery  was 
made  in  Quaternary  times  by  all  the  races  that  peopled 
Europe,^  it  is  impossible  to  deny  that  a  great  many  of 
them  were  in  possession  of  the  art.  This  difference 
in  the  degree  of  civilization  attained  to  by  men  living 
but  short  distances  from  each  other  need  not  surprise 
us,  for  all  travellers  report  similar  facts  amongst  con- 
temporary savage  races. 

The  baking  of  pottery  is  a  proof  that  the  use  of 
fire  was  known  in  the  most  remote  times.  The  exist- 
ence in  various  places  of  masses  of  cinders,  fragriients 
of  charred  wood,  and  half-calcined  bones,  proves  it  yet 
more  decidedly.  At  Solutre,  at  Louverne  (Mayenne), 
at  Saint-Florent  (Corsica),  to  give  but  a  few  examples, 
we  find  large  slabs  of  half -calcined  stone,  laid  flat  and 
covered  with  heaps  of  cinders  and  all  sorts  of  rubbish. 
These  slabs  formed  the  family  hearth,  where  man  pre- 
pared his  food,  with  the  help  of  the  fire  he  had  learnt 
to  ignite  and  to  keep  burning. 

How  did  man  arrive  at  a  discoveiy  so  vital  to  his 

'  I  have  not  space  to  speak  here  of  the  curious  pottery  found  in  America. 
The  most  ancient  specimens,  moreover,  are  of  much  later  date  than  the  Quater- 
nary epoch.  I  can  only  refer  those  interested  in  the  subject  to  my  book  on 
"  Prehistoric  America,"  published  in  French  by  M.  Masson  of  Paris,  and  in  Eng- 
lish in  America  by  Messrs.  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 


I02  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

existence  ?  The  Vedas  assio-n  the  orls^in  of  fire  to  the 
rubbing  together  in  a  storm  of  the  dry  branches  of 
trees.  "  The  first  men,"  says  Vitruvius/  "  were  born, 
as  were  other  animals,  in  the  forests,  caves,  and  woods. 
The  thick  trees  violently  agitated  by  the  storm  took 
fire,  through  the  rubbing  together  of  their  branches; 
the  fury  of  the  flames  terrified  the  men  who  found 
themselves  near  them  and  made  them  take  to  flio-ht. 
Soon  reassured,  however,  they  gradually  approached 
again  and  realized  all  the  advantages  they  might  gain 
for  their  bodies  from  the  gentle  warmth  of  the  fii-e. 
They  added  fuel  to  tlie  flames,  they  kept  the  fire  up, 
they  fetched  other  men  whom  they  made  understand 
by  signs  all  the  usefulness  of  this  discovery.  The 
men  thus  assembled  articulated  a  few  sounds,  which, 
repeated  every  day,  accidentally  formed  certain  words 
which  served  to  designate  objects,  and  soon  they  had 
a  language  which  enabled  them  to  speak  and  to  under- 
stand one  another.  It  was,  then,  the  discovery  of  fire 
which  led  men  to  come  together  to  form  a  society,  to 
live  together,  and  to  inhabit  the  same  places." 

Without  pausing  to  consider  the  somewhat  puerile 
theories  of  Vitruvius,  or  the  myths  which  testify  to 
the  im[)ortance  attached  to  fire  by  primeval  man,  we 
are  at  li})erty  to  suppose  that  a  conflagi'atiou  caused 
by  lightning  or  by  the  sjjontaneous  combustion  of 
vegetable  materials  in  a  state  of  fermentation,  or  other 
similar  phenomena,  made  known  to  man  the  power  of 
fire,  and  the  use  it  might  be  to  him.  The  accidental 
striking  together  of  two -flints  pi'oduced  a  spark ;  ob- 
servation taught  men  to  ol)tain  a  similar  I'csult  by  the 
same  process  ;  a  great  step  in  advance  was  made,  and 

'  *'  Do  Architectura,"  book  ii.,  c.  i. 


CLOT/I /JVC.  103 

tlie  future  of  humanity  was  assured.  M.  Dupont  picked 
up  in  the  Chaleux  Cave  a  ki<liiey-slia[)ed  piece  of  iron 
pyrites,  hollowed  out  in  a  peculiar  manner,  which  had 
evidently  been  used  to  obtain  the  precious  spark.  The 
C/liristy  collection  ccmtains  a  granite  pebble  with  a 
hole  the  shape  of  a  cup,  which  had  evidently  been  used 
to  obtain  fii'e,  by  rubbing  round  in  it  a  stick  of  very 
dry  wood.  The  two  methods  employed  at  the  present 
day  were  thei'efore  already  in  use.  Lundiolz  tells  us 
that  the  Austi'alians  of  Herbert  lliver  get  fii-e  by  rub- 
bing two  pieces  of  wood  together.  The  Indians  of 
the  nortlnvest  of  Colorado,  the  Yapais  of  the  Caroline 
Islands,  and  the  Mincopies  of  the  Andaman  Isles,  with 
man}'  other  races,  know  no  other  process.  We  must,  how- 
ever, still  maintain  a  certain  reserve  in  dealing  with  the 
ti!'(M)])taining  implements  of  so  impei'fect  a  natui'e,  and 
belonging  to  times  so  remote  as  those  called  prehistoric. 
During  bad  seasons,  or  in  the  bitter  cold  of  winter, 
primeval  man  contented  himself  with  flinging  over  his 
shoulders  the  skins  of  the  animals  he  had  killed.  He 
prepai'ed  these  skins  with  flint  scrapers,  and  sewed 
them  together  Avith  bone  needles.  In  hot  weather  man 
pi-o])a])ly  I'oamed  about  stai'k  naked.  Shame  is  not  a 
natui-al  instinct;  education  alone  develops  it.  AVriting 
in  1(117,  Fynes  Morison  speaks  of  having  seen  at  Cork 
young  girls  (juite  naked,  engaged  in  crushing  corn  with 
a  stone.  The  Tchoutchi  women,  says  Nordenskiold, 
wear  no  clothes  when  in  their  tents,  however  great  the 
cold.  In  tropical  countries  men,  women,  and  childi'en, 
all  completely  nude,  went  to  meet  the  travellers  who 
landed  on  their  shoi'es.  Count  ITi'sel,  in  a  recent  jour- 
ney in  Bolivia,  in  going  through  a  little  town,  saw 
"  near  the  public  fountain   some  }  oung  gii'ls  already 


104  PiiEHisroRic  peoples. 

growing  up  making  their  ablutions  and  playing  about 
in  the  garb  of  the  earthly  paradise."  Travellers  who 
visited  Japan  a  few  years  ago  i-eported  that  the  inhabi- 
tants, without  distinction  of  age  or  sex,  came  out  of 
the  water  in  a  state  of  complete  nudity,  presenting  a 
strange  spectacle  to  European  eyes.  The  sight  of  what 
is  actually  going  on  amongst  comparatively  civilized 
people  in  our  own  day  enables  us  to  understand  better 
what  must  have  been  the  state  of  things  when  the 
w^hole  world  was  in  a  state  of  barbarism. 

It  was  not  until  much  later,  in  the  times  to  which 
the  name  of  Neolithic  has  been  given,  that  men  made 
stuffs,  and  replaced  the  skins  of  animals  by  lighter  and 
more  flexible  garments.  The  inhal^itants  of  the  Lake 
Stations  of  Switzerland  and  of  Italy  cultivated  hemp. 
At  Wangen  and  at  Robenhausen  have  been  found 
shreds  of  coarsely  woven  clotli,  and  at  Lagozza  frag- 
ments of  yet  more  primitive  material.  On  some  of 
these  pieces  it  is  supposed  that  traces  of  fringe  and 
attempts  at  ornamentation  have  been  made  out.  Even 
in  the  Perigord  caves  Lartet  noticed  some  long  slim 
needles  which  could  not  have  been  used  for  sewing 
skins ;  and  he  concluded  that  they  were  intended  for 
more  delicate  work,  perhaps  even  for  embroider}^  A 
new  ai't,  and  one  which  we  certainly  should  not  have 
expected  to  find  is  now  met  with  for  the  first  time. 

It  is  probable  that  our  savage  ancestors  tatooed 
themselves,  or  painted  their  bodies,  as  did  the  Britons 
in  the  time  of  Caesar,  and  as  do  motlei'n  savages, 
or,  not  to  go  so  far  afield,  as  do  English  sailors  and 
some  of  the  workingmen  of  Erance.'     At  Montastnic 


^  On    the  subject  of  tatooing  an  excellent  work  may  be   consulted  by  Di 
Magitot  ("  Ass.  Fran9.  pour  I'Avancement  des  Sciences,"  Alger,  1881). 


ORNAMENTS.  lO^ 

have  been  picked  up  some  fi-agmeuts  of  red  clialk,  and 
in  Mayenne  of  red  iron  ore,  \vbilst  in  tbe  cave  of  Spy 
was  found  a  bone  filled  with  a  very  fine  red  powder, 
and  in  that  of  Saltpetriere  some  powder  of  the  same 
kind  was  discovered  preserved  from  desti'uction  in  a 
shell.  Lartet  and  Christy  have  made  similar  discov- 
eries in  the  caves  of  the  Dordogne ;  M.  Dupont  in  a 
shelter  at  Chaleux,  and  M.  Riviere  at  Baousse-Rousse. 
The  Abbe  Bourgeois  found  at  Yillehonneur  not  only 
a  piece  of  red  chalk  as  big  as  a  nut,  but  also  an  oval- 
shaped  pebble,  which  had  been  used  for  grinding  it, 
the  interstices  of  the  surface  still  retaining  traces  of 
coloring  matter. 

Red  chalk  was  not  the  only  substance  employed. 
At  Chatelperron,  were  picked  up  fragments  of  manga- 
nese ;  at  Cueva  de  Rocca,  near  Valentia,  pieces  of  cin- 
nabar ;  in  the  Placard  Cave,  bits  of  black  lead  ;  and  in 
the  different  stations  in  the  Pyi'enees,  especially  in  that 
of  Aurensan,  ochre  has  been  found  which  was  doubt- 
less used  foi-  the  same  purpose.  At  Solutre,  ochre, 
manganese,  and  graphite  were  found  ;  the  last  named 
had  been  scraped  with  a  flint,  and  the  scratches  made 
by  it  are  still  distinctly  visible.  From  a  Westphalian 
cave,  Schaafhausen  took  some  dark  yellow  ochre  ;  at 
Castern  (Staffordshire),  a  bit  of  this  same  calcareous 
substance,  worn  with  long  service,  was  picked  up  ;  in 
Cantire  (Argyleshire),  a  piece  of  red  hematite,  which 
had  evidently  been  brought  from  Westmoreland  or 
Lancashire  ;  and  lastly,  in  Kent's  Hole  was  found  some 
peroxide  of  manganese. 

All  these  fras-meuts  oi  ochre  or  mansfanese,  red 
chalk  or  black  lead,  weie  reduced  to  powder  with  the 
help  of  pebbles,  artificially  hollowed  out.     Everywhere 


I06  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

we  meet  witli  these  j^nmitive  mortars,  and  side  by  side 
witli  tliem  other  pebbles  in  their  native  condition, 
which  had  evidently  been  used  for  crushing  the  color- 
ing matter. 

A  recent  discovery  tends  to  confirm  the  hypothesis 
that  these  colors  were  used  for  the  decoration  of  the 
human  body.  A  curious  engraving  on  a  bone  repre- 
sents the  head  and  arm  of  a  man,  and  on  the  lower 
part  of  the  forearm  it  is  easy  to  make  out  a  four-sided 
design  which  evidently  indicated  tatooing. 

In  every  country,  and  in  every  climate,  we  find  men 
as  well  as  women  manifesting  a  taste  for  ornament. 
The  pi'ogress  of  civilization  has  greatly  increased  this 
taste,  but  it  existed  as  a  natural  instinct  in  the  very 
earliest  days  of  humanity,  and  the  contemporary  of  the 
mammoth  and  the  cave-bear,  the  cave-man  cowering 
in  his  miserable  den,  sought  for  ornaments  with  which 
to  deck  himself.  In  the  caves  near  the  stations  occu- 
j^ied  by  primeval  men  we  find  little  bits  of  fossil  coral, 
beads  of  hardened  clay,  the  teeth  of  bears,  wolves,  and 
foxes,  boars'  tusks,  and  the  jawbones  of  small  mam- 
mals, fish-bones,  and  belemuites  pierced  with  holes,  and 
intended  to  be  used  as  anuilets  or  ornaments  to  be 
worn  round  the  neck.  At  Lafaye,  we  find  the  incisors 
of  small  rodents  serving  the  same  purpose.  The 
dweller  in  the  Sordes  Cave  owned  a  precious  necklace 
made  of  forty  bears'  and  three  lions'  teeth.  The  teeth 
found  often  have  on  them  oi'namental  lines,  which 
doubtless  indicated  the  rank  or  celebrated  the  deeds 
of  the  chief.  The  Abbe  Bourgeois  describes  some 
stags'  teetli  found  at  Villehonnour  (Charente),  two  of 
which  bore  scratches  \vhich  may  have  had  some  signi- 
fication.    At  Cro-Magnon  were  picked  up  some  ivoiy 


ORNA  MEN  TS.  I OJ 

plaques  pierced  with  tliree  lioles ;  at  Kent's  bole 
were  found  some  oval  disks  measuring  five  by  three 
inches,  which  in  the  delicacy  of  their  workmanship 
presented  a  curious  contrast  to  the  other  objects  taken 
from  the  same  cave.  In  the  Belgian  caves  ^vere  picked 
up  some  thin  slices  of  jet  and  some  ivory  plaques,  and 
in  those  of  the  south  of  France  fragments  of  steatite, 
cut  into  rectangular  and  lo/enge  shapes,  whilst  in  the 
Thayngen  Cave  was  found  a  pendant  of  lignite  (Fig.  2V). 
Men  were  not  content  with  natural  products  ;  fashion 
demanded  new  forms  and  fresh  materials. 


Fig.  27. — I.    Lignite  pendant.      2.    Bone  pendant  (Thayngen  Cave). 

But  what  most  attracted  the  attention  of  the  ancient 
inhabitants  of  France  were  bright-colored  shells.  Tlie 
caves  of  Roquemaure  have  yielded  neai'ly  a  thousand 
disks  and  beads  made  of  cockle-shells ;  at  Cro-Magnon 
more  than  three  hundred  shells  were  picked  up  which 
formed  a  collar  or  necklace,  Avhich  was  not  however  so 
valuable  as  that  of  the  man  of  Sordes.  M.  de  Maret 
discovered  at  Placard  numerous  shells ;  some  l)elong- 
ing  to  ocean  species  still  extant,  and  others  fossils  of 
forms  now  extinct.  Many  of  them  are  foreign  to  the 
country  in  which  they  were  found.  From  the  most 
remote  times  therefore  the  inhabitants  of  the  present 
department  of  Charente  fished  in  the  Gulf  of  Gascony, 


I08  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

crossed  A<|iiitauia,  visited  the  shell  luai'l  deposits  of 
Anjon  and  Toiiraine,  and  [)enetrated  as  far  as  tlie 
present  Paris  basin.  The  finding  of  the  Oyprina 
Idandica  in  one  of  the  French  caves  proves  that  the 
prehistoric  men  of  Fi'ance  even  went  as  far  away  as 
the  north  of  England.  This  is  by  no  means  an  isolated 
fact ;  nnmerons  shells  from  the  department  of  Cham- 
pagne had  been  taken  to  the  shores  of  the  Lesse  and 
the  Meuse.  At  Soliitre  have  been  found  belemnites, 
ammonites,  and  Miocene  shells,  which  were  certainly 
never  native  to  that  district,  with  pieces  of  rock-crystal 
from  the  Alps,  and  beads  made  of  a  Jadeite  of  unknown 
origin. 

In  Scotland  have  been  found  necklaces  of  uerites 
and  limpets  ;  at  Auriguac,  eighteen  little  plaques  of 
cockle  shell  pierced  with  holes  in  the  centre.  At 
Laugerie-Basse,  a  man  overtaken  by  a  landslip  had 
been  crushed  by  the  stones  which  had  fallen  upon 
him  ;  time  has  destroyed  his  clothes,  but  the  shells 
with  which  he  had  decked  himself  ai'e  still  preserved.^ 
He  had  woi'n  foui'  on  his  forehead,  two  on  each 
shoulder,  four  on  each  knee,  and  two  on  each  foot. 
All  idea  of  these  shells  havini!;  formed  a  necklace 
must  be  a.l)andoned  ;  they  wei'e  all  notched,  and  had 
been  used  eithei-  to  adorn  oi-  fasten  the  clothes. 

The  most  interesting  discoveries,  however,  were  those 
made  in  the  caves  of  Baousse-Rousse,  of  which  we  liave 
so  often  spoken.  M.  Riviere  picked  up  the  skeletons 
of  two  children,  some  thousan<l  shells  ( A^asti^a  neritea) 
artificially  2>icrced,  w  hicli  had  Keen  used  to  deck  their 
i»:arments.      Near  an  adidt   were  othei-  shells  foi-minir  a 


'  Cypraa   ru/a,    Cypraa  lurida  (Coiitptes   rendus  Acad,    des    Sciences,   vol. 
Ixxxiv. ,  J).  1060). 


ORNAMENTS.  100 

necklace,  a  bracelet,  an  amulet,  and  a  garter  worn  on 
the  left  leg  ;  whilst  on  the  head  was  a  regular  7r.s'27/6' 
or  uet,  not  unlike  that  of  the  S[)auish  national  costume, 
which  net  was  made  of  small  nerita  shells  and  kept  in 
place  by  bone  pins. 

We  nuist  also  mention  amongst  favorite  ornaments 
beads  made  of  jet  and  of  very  fine  ochreous  clay  dried 
in  the  sun,  of  calcareous  crystalline  rock,  and  of  gray- 
ish schist,  and  in  other  places  of  beads  of  amber  or  of 
hyaline  quartz,  the  brightness  of  which  attracted  the 
attention.  At  the  station  of  Menieux  (Charente)  with 
flints  of  a  ty[>e  to  which  it  is  usual  to  give  the  names 
of  Mousterieu  or  Solutreen,  excavations  have  pelded 
numerous  carefully  polished  balls  of  calx,  varying 
in  diametei'  from  one  to  two  inches.  If  thei'e  had 
been  any  doubts  as  to  their  use,  those  doubts  would 
have  l)een  removed  by  the  disco veiy  at  Laugerie- Basse 
of  a  fragment  of  the  shoulder-blade  of  a  reindeer  on 
which  was  enirraved  the  fiii;ure  of  a  woman  wearins; 
round  her  neck  a  necklace  of  clumsy  round  balls. 
Other  yet  stranger  ornaments  have  been  found,  for 
which  what  we  have  said  about  the  cannibalism  of  early 
man  should  have  prepared  the  reader.  Our  ancestors 
of  the  Stone  ag^e  adorned  themselves  witli  necklaces 
of  huiuMn  teeth,  anti  two  skeletons  have  been  duo;  out 
wearing  round  theii-  necks  this  token  of  their  victories. 
M.  de  Baye  [)ossesses  in  his  collection  some  I'ound 
pieces  of  skull  pierced  with  holes  (Fig.  28),  and  at 
the  meeting  of  the  American  Association  in  1886,  at 
Ann  Ai'boi-  (Michigan)  were  pi-esented  some  orna- 
ments made  of  human  bcmes  from  a  mound  in  Ohio. 

In  taking  fi-oni  the  gangue  in  which  it  was  imbedded 
a   skull   from   the   megalithic    monument   of    Vauival, 


no 


fREHlSTOKIC  PRO  PUIS. 


Pruuer  Bey  noticed  a  fragment  of  a  luinian  shoulder- 
blade  pierced  with  an  incision  in  which  was  fixed  a 
little  I'ounded  piece  of  Ijone.  This  style  of  ornament 
seems  to  have  remained  in  use  for  many  centui'ies,  for 
M.  Nicaise  has  lately  discovered  at  Moulin  d'Oyes 
(Marne)  a  necklace  made  of  calx  balls,  shells,  an<l 
pendants  cut  out  of  tlie  scales  of  unio  shells.  On 
this  necklace  hung  a  round  piece  of  human  cranium, 
and  in  the  Gallic  cemeteiy  at  Varille,  the  exterior 
lamina  of  a  human  hnnbar  vei'tebra  was  fastened  to 
a  necklace  made  of  coral   beads. 

We  are  also  accpiainted  \vith  facts  of  another  ordei', 
which  may  be  mentioned  in  this  connection.     The  men 


Fic;.  28. — Round  jiieces  of  skull  jjierced  with  holes  (M.  de  Baye's  collection). 

of  Marjevols  drank  out  of  human  crania ;  the  Greno- 
ble Museum  owns  a  driidving-vessel  of  this  kind ; 
others  have  been  discovei'ed  at  Billancourt,  at  Cha- 
vannes,  at  the  Chassey  Camp,  and  at  Sutz,  vEfele, 
and  Locras  in  Switzerland,  as  well  as  at  Brook ville 
in  the  State  of  Indiana.  Dr.  Prunieres  possesses  half 
a  human  radius,  probably  that  of  a  female,  carefully 
j>olished  and  converted  into  a  stiletto  (Fig.  29).  Dr. 
Garrigou  has  an  arro\v-head  made  of  a  human  bone, 
Pellegrino  a  fibula  converted  into  a  polisher  found  in 
the  lower  beds  of  the  celebi'ated  Castione  terremare 
near  Parma.     At  the  meeting  of  the  Prehistoric  Con- 


ORNAMENTS. 


Ill 


gress  in  Paris  iu  1869,  Pereira  da  Costa  mentioned  a 
femora  converted  into  a  sceptre  or  staft'  of  office,  and 
to  conclude  this  melancholy  list,  Longperier  mentions 
a  human  bone  pierced  with  regular  openings,  which, 
by  a  strange  irony  of  death,  served  as  a  flute  to  delight 
the  ears  of  the  livino;. 

One  of  the  eai'liest  necessities  of  human  nature  mnst 
have   i)een   companionship ;    for  help  was  absolutely 


P'iG.  29. — Part  of  a  rounded  piece  of  a  human  parietal — Stiletto  made  of  I  he 
end  of  a  human  radius — Disli  made  of  the  burr  of  a  stag's  antler. 

necessary  to  enable  man  to  cope  ^vith  the  dangers  sur- 
rounding him.  Tribes,  formed  at  fii-st  of  members  of 
the  same  family,  mnst  have  existed  from  the  very  dawn 
of  humanity.  The  reindeer  phalanges,  pierced  to  serve 
as  whistles  (Fig.  30),  found  at  Eyzies,  Schussenreid, 
Laugerie-Basse,  Bruniquel,  in  the  Chaifand  Cave  and 
the  Belgian  shelters,  in  a  peat-marsh  of  Scania,  in  the 


112  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

islaud  of  Palmai'ia,  and  in  many  otlier  places,  were 
doubtless  used  to  summon  men  to  war  or  to  the  chase. 
In  the  Cottes  Cave  were  found  some  reindeer  and 
aurochs'  shanks,  which  may  naturally  be  supposed  to 
have  served  the  same  purpose.  The  curious  objects 
preserved  in  the  Christy  collections  must  also  have 
been  used  in  vv^ar  or  in  the  chase.  They  bear,  in 
addition  to  the  mark  of  their  owner,  notches  of  dif- 
ferent shapes  commemorating  his  exploits  in  battle 
or  in  hunting.  At  Solutrc,  MM.  Ducrost  and  Arcelin 
noticed  fragments  of  elephants'  tusks,  calcareous 
plaques,  and  some  sandstone  disks  from  the  Trias, 
with  notches  and  equidistant  lines  evidently  having  a 
similar  purpose. 


Fig.  30. — Whistle  from  the  Massenat  Collection. 

From  whistles  to  regular  musical  instruments  the 
transition  is  simple.  Without  describing  that  men- 
tioned by  M.  de  Lougperier,  which  we  cannot  confi- 
dently assert  to  be  of  great  antiquity,  M.  Piette,  in  one 
of  his  numerous  excavations,  discovered  a  primitive 
flute  made  of  two  bird  bones  which,  when  put  to- 
gether and  blown  into,  produced  modulations  similar 
to  those  of  the  pipes  used  by  the  people  of  Oceania; 
the  monotonous  music  of  which  is  alluded  to  by  Cook. 
Some  time  afterwards  M.  Piette  noticed  similar  bones 
in  the  Rochebertier  collection.  80  far  ^ve  know  of  no 
other  discovery  of  a  similar  kind. 


kARLY  ARTISTIC  EFFORTS.  113 

The  curious  objects  kuowu  under  the  name  of  staves 
of  office  would,  if  it  were  needed,  afford  yet  another 
proof  that  the  men  of  the  Stone  age  lived  in  societies, 
possessed  an  organization,  and  acknowledged  a  chief. 
The  staves  of  office  consist  of  large  pieces  of  reindeer 
or  stag  antler,  artistically  worked  and  presenting  a 
pi-etty  uniform  appearance.  Their  surface  is  decorated 
with  carvings  and  engravings  representing  animals, 
plants,  and  hunting  scenes.  They  are  thicker  than 
they  are  wide,  and  the  care  often  taken  to  reduce  the 
thickness  is  a  pi'oof  that  an  attempt  was  made  to  com- 
bine elegance  and  lightness  with  solidity  (Figs.  31,  32, 
33,  34,  and  35).     Nearly  all  of  them  are  pierced  at  one 


Fig.  31. — Staff  of  office. 

end  with  large  holes,  of  which  the  number  varies. 
Some  of  these  holes  wei'e  later  additions.  May  we 
perhaps  see  in  them  the  signs  of  a  priesthood,  in  which 
successive  ranks  were  attained,  and  in  which  every 
new  achievement  was  rewarded  with  a  new  distinc- 
tion ?  This  is  difficult  to  prove,  but  these  staves  could 
not  have  been  used  as  weapons  or  as  tools  ;  the  care 
taken  to  cover  them  with  ornaments,  with  the  lono; 
time  required  for  this  decoration,  shows  the  value  their 
owners  attached  to  them.  The  impossibility  of  any 
other  hypothesis  is  the  best  proof  we  have  of  their  use. 


114 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


Amongst  tlie  marvellous  objects  collected  by  Dr. 
Schliemarm  at  Hissarlik,  were  two  fragments  of  rein- 
deer antler  pierced  with  holes  presenting  a  singular 
resemblance  to  those  we  have  been  describing.  We 
may  also  compare  with  them  the  pogomagan,  the  badge 
of  office  of  Indian  chiefs  on  the  Mackenzie  River,  the 
Tartar  hemous,  the  sticks  on  which  the  Australians 
mark  by  conventional  signs  any  event  of  importance 
to  themselves  or  their  tribe,  and  the  similar  objects 
from  Persia,  Assam,  the  Celebes,  and  New  Zealand, 
But  why  seek  examples   so  far   away  ?     Is   not   the 


Fig.  32. — Staff  of  office  made  of  stag-horn  pierced  with  four  holes. 

memory  of  these  ancient  insignia  preserved  in  our  own 
day,  and  may  they  not  have  been  the  original  forms 
of  the  sceptres  of  our  kings  and  the  croziers  of  our 
bishops  ? 

These  staves,  of  which  hundreds  have  now  been 
found,  were  picked  up  in  many  different  places,  in- 
cluding the  Goyet  Cave  in  Belgium,  the  caves  of 
Perigord  and  Charente,  and  the  Veyrier  Station  in 
Savoy.  At  Thayngen,  as  many  as  twenty-three  w^ere 
found,  all  pierced  with  one  hole  only.'     AVe  must  not 

'  On  this  point  an  excellent  work  may  be  consulted  by  S.  Reinach  :  '*  Le 

Musee  de  Saint  Germain,"  p.  232. 


Fig.   33. — Staff  of  office 
found  at  Lafaye. 


Fig.   34. — Staff  of  office  in  reindeer  antler,  with  a 
horse  engraved  on  it,  found  at  Thayngeu. 


115 


Il6  PkEHtSTORlC  PEOPLES. 

omit  to  mention  amongst  tliese  relics  of  ages  gone  by, 
one  of  tlie  most  interesting  found  in  1887  at  Montgau- 
dier  (Cliarente)  (Fig.  35),  which  bears  on  one  side  a 
representation  of  two  seals,  and  on  the  other  of  two 
eels,  the  former  of  which  especially  are  executed  with 
a  truth  to  form,  boldness  of  execution,  and  delicacy  of 
touch  which  are  positively  astonishing  when  we  re- 
member that  the  artist  (we  cannot  refuse  him  this 
title)  had  no  tools  at  his  disposal  but  a  few  miserable 
flints  or  roughly  pointed  bones.  The  hinder  limbs,  so 
strangely  placed  in  amphibia,  are  faithfully  rendered  ; 
each  paw  has  its  five  toes,  the  texture  of  the  skin  can 
be  made  out,  the  head  is  delicately  modelled  ;  the  muz- 
zle with  its  whiskers,  the  eye,  the  orifice  of  the  ear,  all 
testify  to  real  skill.  The  existence  of  the  seal  in  the 
Quatei'nary  epoch  in  the  south  of  France  was  not 
known  until  quite  recently,  ^^hen  Mr.  Hardy  found 
in  a  cave  near  Perigueux  the  remains  of  a  seal  ( Phoca 
grmnlandica )  ^  associated  with  quite  an  arctic  fauna. 
In  part  at  least  therefore  of  the  Quaternary  period, 
ver}^  great  cold  must  have  23revailed  in  Perigord.^ 

With  this  staif  of  office  were  picked  up  some  pieces 
of  ivory  covered  with  geometrical  designs,  engraved 
with  some  sharp  implement,  stilettos,  bone  needles, 
knives,  flint  scrapers,  and,  stranger  still,  the  remains 
of  the  cave-lion,  the  cave-hyena,  and  the  Itliiiioceros 
tichorMnus^  all  contemporaries  of  the  most  ancient 
Quaternary  fauna. 

It  was  not  only  on  the  staves  of  office  that  the  men 
of  the  Stone  age  exercised  their  talent.  Many  and 
varied  are  the  subjects  which  have  been  found  en- 
graved on  plaques  of  ivory  or  on  stone,  and  incised  on 

'  Vaudr)-;  Acad,  dcs  Sciences,  August  25,  1890. 


Fig.  35. — Staff  of  i.ffice  found  at  Montgaiuiier. 


117 


Ill 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


bears'  teetli  or  on  stag  lioru.  We  represent  one  form- 
ing the  Lilt  of  a  dagger  (Fig.  36),  and  another  re[)re- 
senting  a  bear  with  the  convex  forehead,  characteristic 
of  the  species,  engraved  on  a  piece  of  schist  (Fig.  37), 
and  a  mammoth  engraved  on  an  ivory  plaque  Avith  its 


Fig.  36. — Carved  dagger-hilt  (Laugerie-Basse). 

long  mane,  trunk,  and  curved  tusks  (Fig.  38).  The 
artist  who  depicted  these  animals  witli  such  faithful 
exactitude  evidently  lived  amongst  them.  The  first 
discovery  of  this  kind  was  made  by  Joly-Leterme  in 


Fig.  37. — The  great  cave-bear,  drawn  on  a  pebl^le  found  in  the  Massat  Cave 
(Garrigou  collection). 

the  Chaft'aud  Cave  (Vienna)  ;  it  was  a  reindeer  bone 
on  which  two  stags  were  represented.^ 

In  the  Loi*tet  Cave  was  found  the  bone  of  a  stag  on 

'A.  Bertrand :  .^iTrf^.  des  Inscriptions,  April  29  and  May  6,  1887. 


EARLY  ARTISTIC  EFFORTS.  I  I9 

which  could  l>e  made  out  a  representation  of  fish  and 
reindeer,  whilst  at  Sordes  was  discovered  a  bear's  tooth 
with  a  seal  engraved  upon  it  (Fig.  39),  at  Marsoulas  a 
piece  of  rib  on  which  is  depicted  an  animal  said  to  be 


Fio.  38. — Mammoth,  or  elephant,  from  the  I.ena  Cave. 

a  musk-ox  (Fig.  40),  and  at  Feyjat  (Dordogne)  a  bird's 
bone  bearing  on  it  a  drawing  of  three  horses  moving 
rapidly  along,  I  am  obliged  to  pass  over  many  other 
most  interesting  examples,  but  I  must  not  omit  to  men- 


FlG.  39. — Seal  engraved  on  a  bear's  tooth  found  at  Sordes. 

tion  the  magnificent  examples  which  form  part  of  the 
Peccadeau  collection  at  Lisle.  Cartailhac  mentions 
some  chamois,  an  ox,  and  an  elephant ;  some  engraved 
on  the  bones  of  deer  and  others  on  fragments  of  ivory, 


I20  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

or  on  reindeer  antlers.     The  aii;  of  the  cave-men  was 
now  at  its  zenith. 

But  for  one  exception  to  which  I  shall  refer  again, 
it  is  curious  to  note  that  we  only  find  these  engravings 
and  carvings,  ^v^hich  so  justly  excite  our  astonishment 
in  a  district  of  limited  extent,  bounded  on  the  north 
by  the  Charente,  on  the  south  by  the  Pyrenees  and 
extending  on  the  east  no  farther  than  the  department 
of  the  Ariege.     It  is  a  pleasant  thought  that  in  the 


rc^;^s^«^^^^^^7*=^':^ 


X^'j^\^''\  I 


Fig.  40. — Fragment  of  a  bone  with  regular  designs.     Fragment  of  rib  on  which 
is  engraved  a  musk-ox,  found  in  the  Marsoulas  Cave. 

midst  of  their  struggle  for  existence,  and  when  they 
had  to  contend  with  gigantic  pachyderms  and  for- 
midable beasts  of  pi-ey,  our  most  remote  ancestors,  the 
contemporaries  of  tlie  mammoth  and  the  lion,  already 
developed  those  artistic  tendencies  which  are  the  gloiy 
of  their  descendants. 

I  referred  above  to  an  exceptional  example  of  pre- 
historic art  found  beyond  the  borders  of  France.  In 
excavations  in  the  Thayngen  Cave,  on  the  borders  of 


EARLY  ARTISTIC  EFFORTS. 


121 


Switzerland  and  Wurteniberg,  twenty  most  remarkable 
examples  were  found,  in  which  it  is  easy  to  recognize 
the  horse  (Fig.  41),  the  bear  (Fig.  42),  and  the  rein- 
deer grazing  (Fig.  43).'  All,  especially  the  last  named, 
are  rendered  with  such  perfection,  that  it  was  at  fii'st 
supposed  that  they  were  the  \\^ork  of  a  forger.  A 
searching  inquiry  has  proved  that  they  are  nothing  of 
the  sort;  a  skilful  zoologist  would  have  been  needed 
to  represent  the  Ovihos  moscJiatun  (Fig.  44),  which  re- 


FiG.  41. — Head  of  a  horse  from  the 
Thayngen  Cave. 


Fig.  42. — Bear  engraved  on  a  bone 
from  the  Thayngen  Cave. 


tired  many  centuries  ago  towards  the  extreme  north. 
If  we  do  find  a  few  rare  attempts  at  art  in  other  dis- 
tricts, they  are  absolutely  rudimentary.  The  staff  of 
office  found  in  the  Goyet  Cave  is  of  very  rude  work- 
manship. The  Brussels  Museum  contains  a  fe\v  other 
specimens,  of  which  the  most  important  is  a  fragment 
of  sandstone  from  the  Frontal  Cave,  on  which  a  few 

'  Reinach  in  his  "  Catalogue  of  the  Saint-Germain  Museum  "  gives  the  best 
description  I  know  of  this  now  celebrated  reindeer. 


122 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


uncertain  scratches  represent  what  looks  like  a  stag. 
Some  indistinct  traces  of  engraving  have  been  made 

out  on  the  bones  found 
in  the  Altamira  Cave, 
near    Santander,    and 
recently    a    bone    on 
which  a  kind  of  horse 
was     engraved,     was 
picked    up    at   Cress- 
well's    Crags,   Derby- 
shire, in  a  cave  known 
in  the  district  as  Moth- 
er   G)'un<h/s  Parlor. 
This  specimen,  as  were 
those    of    Thayngen, 
was    associated    ^vith 
numerous     bones     of 
Quaternary     animals, 
amongst  which  those 
of  the  hippopotamus 
were  the  most  curions. 
The  representation 
of  the   human   figure 
is  extremely  rare.     I 
have      already     men- 
tioned the  young  man 
trying    to    strike    an 
aurochs  which  is  run- 
ning awa}^  from  him ; 
and  the  ^voman  wear- 
in  <r  a  necklace.     The 
former  (Pig.  45),  found  at  Laugerie,  is  engraved  on  a 
piece  of  reindeer  antler  about  twenty-five  centimetres 


Fig.  43. — Reindeer  grazing,  from  the 
Thayngen  Cave. 


EARLY  ARTISTIC  EFFORTS. 


123 


long.  The  aurochs  with  its  head  down  and  quantities 
of  Ijristling  hair,  widely  open  nostrils,  arched  and 
uplifted  tail,  presents  the  appearance  of  a  terrified 
animal  endeavoring  to  escape  the  danger  threatening 
it.  The  man  is  naked,  and  has  a  round  head,  his  hair 
is  stiff  and  seems  to  stand  up  on  the  top  of  his  skull ; 
on  the  chin  a  short  beard  can  clearly  be  made  out ;  the 
face  expresses  the  delight  and  excitement  of  the  chase. 
The  neck  is  long,  the  arm  short,  and  the  spine  of 
unusual  length.  In  the  other  example  of  the  repre- 
sentation   of    the    human  figure,  that  of  the   woman 


Fig.  44. — Head  of  OtH'os  inoschalus  engraved  on  wood,  found  in  the  Thayngen 

Cave. 

wearing  a  necklace,  drawn  on  a  piece  of  a  shoulder- 
blade  of  a  I'eindeei',  she  is  seen  lying  ])y  a  stag,  and 
would  seem  to  be  in  an  advanced  state  of  pregnancy. 
The  piece  of  bone  however  is  broken,  and  the  head 
of  the  woman  is  lost,  which  of  course  greatly  lessens 
the  value  of  the  relic. 

On  a  fragment  of  a  staif  of  office  from  the  Madeleine 
Cave  is  engraved  a  man  between  two  horses'  heads 
(Fig.  46).  On  a  reindeer  antler  is  represented  a  woman 
with  flat  breasts  and   very  high  hips,  followed  by  a 


124 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


serpent ;  a  shell  from  the 
crag  near  Walton-on-the-Naze 
had  a  human  face  roughly 
engraved  on  one  side.  The 
Abbe  Bourgeois,  in  the  ex- 
cavations so  fruitful  of  re- 
sults at  Kochebei'tier,  found 
a  rough  carving  of  a  human 
face  (Fig.  47)  ;  M.  Piette  at 
Mas  d'Azil  found  a  little 
bust  of  a  woman,  carved  on 
the  root  of  the  tooth  of  a 
horse.  This  statuette  had  a 
\o^  forehead,  a  prominent 
nose,  a  retreating  chin,  and 
breasts  of  the  negress  type 
of  the  present  day ;  charac- 
teristics quite  unlike  those  of 
the  skeletons  taken  from  this 
cave  or  those  near  it.  We 
wonder  whether  the  artist 
meant  to  represent  the  feat- 
ures of  a  race  other  than  his 
own.*  M.  du  Bouchet  men- 
tions a  rough  sketch  en- 
graved on  a  flint  discovered 
near  Dax ;  the  workman, 
doubtless  daunted  by  the 
difficulties  of  his  task,  had 
abandoned  it  unfinished.  It 
is,  however,  easy  to  tell  what 

Fig.  45.-Young  man  chasin,<;  the  aurochs.         '  A.  Milne  Edwards:  >/.«^.  des  Sciences, 
from  Laugerie.  May  8,  1888. 


EARLY  A R TIS TIC  F.FFOR TS. 


125 


it  was  meant  for.     The  skull  is  low  and  flat,  the  nose 
but  slightly  prominent,  the  eyes  are  oblique,  and  neither 


Fin.  46. — Fragment  of  a  staff  of  office,  from  the  Madeleine  Cave. 

the  mouth  nor  the  chin  ai*e  Unished.  The  magnificent 
collection  of  the  Mai-quis  de  Vil)raye  contains  a  little 
figure  from  Laugerie,  i'e])resenting  a  nude  woman  with- 
out arms.  Thin  and  stiff,  she 
is  chiefly  remarkable  for  the 
exa<>:<j::erated  size  of  the  sexual 
organs,  and  for  some  peculiar 
protuberances  on  the  loins.  We 
dwell  upon  the  former  peculi- 
arity, because  it  is  so  far  ex- 
tremely rare,  whereas  certain 
relics  of  the  Greeks  and  Rom- 
ans, in  spite  of  tlie  com[)ara- 
tively  advanced  civilization  of 
these  two  great  races,  are  such 
that  they  can  only  be  exhibited 
in  private  museums.  Such  de- 
pravity as  this  implies  was  then 
quite  an  exception  among  the 
cave-men,  and  ])ut  for  the  one 


^tiii'^ 


Fig.  47. 


-Human  face  carved 

example  T  have  just  mentioned,      °"  ^  reindeer  amler,  found  in  the 
Y     1  1      IT  Rochebertier  Cave    (Charente). 

1    nave  no   pliallic  representa- 
tions to  refer  to  except  the  few  from  the  Massenat  col- 
lection, which  were  shown   at  the  Exhi])ition  of  1889. 


126  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

We  must  not  close  this  account  of  the  art  efforts  of 
the  men  of  the  Stone  age  without  mentioning  the  re- 
markable discovery  by  M.  Siette,  of  flints  covered  with 
lines  and  geometrical  designs  colored  with  red  chalk. 
These  are  the  very  earliest  examples  of  the  art  of 
painting  which  have  hitherto  come  to  our  knowledge. 
They  bear  witness  to  a  remarkable  progress  made  by 
our  remote  ancestoi's  of  the  valleys  of  the  Pyrenees. 

We  cannot  more  appi'opriately  close  this  chapter 
than  by  quoting  the  magnificent  verse  of  Lucretius, 
which  brings  before  us,  better  than  could  a  long  descrip- 
tion, the  condition  of  these  men,  and  the  humble  start- 
ing-point from  which  humanity  has  advanced  to  achieve 
its  immortal  destiny  : 

Necdum  res  igni  scibaiit  tractare  neque  iiti 
Pellibus  et  spoliis  corpus  vestire  ferarum. 
Bed  nemora  atque  caveos  monteis  sylvasque  colebant 
Et  frutices  inter  condebaiit  squalida  menilira 
Verbera  ventorum  vitare  imbreisque  coactei.' 


^  "  De  Natura  Rerum,"  book  v.,  v.  951,  etc. 


CHAPTKK  TV. 

CAVES,  KITCIIEN-.MIDDINGS,  LAKE  STATIONS,  "  TERKEMARES," 

CRANNOGES,    BURGHS,    "  NURIIAGS,"    '' TALAYOTI," 

AND    ''  TKUDDIII."" 

The  earliest  races  of  men  lived  iu  a  climate  less 
litrorous  than  ours,  on  the  shores  of  wide  rivei's,  in  the 
midst  of  fertile  districts,  where  fishing  and  the  chase 
easily  supplied  all  their  needs.  These  races  were  nu- 
merous and  [nolific,  and  we  find  traces  of  them  all  over 
Western  Europe,  from  Norfolk  to  the  middle  of  Spain. 
AVhat  were  the  homes  of  these  men  and  their  families  ? 
Di<l  they  crouch  iu  dens,  as  Tacitus  says  the  German 
trihes  did  in  his  day;!  In  his  "Ancient  Wiltshire," 
Sir  R.  Coalt  Hoare  says  that  the  earliest  human  habi- 
tations weif  holes  duij:  in  the  earth  and  covered  over 
with  the  ])i'anches  of  trees.  Near  Joigny  there  still  re- 
main some  circular  holes  in  the  gi'ouud,  about  fifty  feet 
in  diameter  l)y  sixteen  to  twenty  deep,  known  iu  the 
count  I  y  under  the  name  of  />i/var(7s.  The  ti'unk  of  a 
tree  was  fi.xed  at  tlu*  bottom  and  rose  above  the  ground, 
and  the  bi-anches  plastered  with  clay  formed  the  roof. 
The  tli^or  of  these  huvai-ds  consists  of  a  greasy  black 
earth  mixed  with  bones,  ciuders,  charcoal,  and  worked 
flints.  Amongst  the  last  named,  polished  hatchets 
predominate,  which  proves  that  these  I'efuges  were 
inhabited   in   Neolithic  times,  but  there  is  nothinu"  to 


128  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

prevent  our  supposing  that  they  were  also  occupied  in 
the  Palseolitliic  period.  Ameghino  gives  a  still  more 
striking  example  of  an  eai'th-dwelling.  Near  Mercedes, 
about  twenty  leagues  from  Buenos  Ayres,  he  picked 
up  numerous  human  bones,  together  with  arrow-heads, 
chisels,  flint  knives,  bone  stilettos  and  polishers,  and 
])oues  of  animals  scratched  and  cut  by  man.  Later, 
Ameghino  discovered  the  actual  dwelling  of  this  prime- 
val man,  and  his  strange  home  was  beneath  the  carapace 
of  a  gigantic  armadillo,  the  now  extinct  glyptodon  seen 
in  Fig.  48. 


Fig.  48. — The  glyiHodon. 

"  All  around  the  (•ara[)ace,"  says  Ameghino,  "  in  the 
reddish  agglomerate  of  the  original  soil  lay  charcoal 
ciudei's,  burnt  and  split  bones,  and  flints.  Digging 
beneath  this,  a  flint  implement  was  found,  with  some 
long  split  llama  and  stag  l)ones,  which  had  evidently 
been  liandled  by  man,  with  some  toxodon  and  mylo- 
don  teeth."  Fig.  49  represents  the  now  extinct  mylo- 
don.  Some  time  afterwards,  the  discovery  of  another 
carapace  under  similar  conditions  added  weight  to 
Ameghino's  supposition.^     In  the  midst  of  the  pampas, 

'  "  YX  homhre  seguramente  hahitaba  las  corazas  de  los  Glyptodon  pero  no 
siemjire  las  colocalia  c-n  la  posicion  cpie  acabo  de  indicar." — "  La  Antiguedad 
del  Iliimbic  i-n  el  I'lala,"  ndI.  ii.,  j).  532. 


CA  FES. 


129 


those  vast  treeless  plains,  where  110  rock  or  accident  of 
conformation  affords  shelter  from  heat  or  cold  or  a 
hiding-place  from  wild  beasts,  man  was  not  at  a  loss  ; 
he  hollowed  out  for  himself  a  liolc  in  the  eai'tli,  roofinu:; 
it  over  with  the  shell  of  a  glyptodou,  and  securing  a 
retreat  whei'e  he  could  l)e  safe  at  least  for  a  time, 

Tt  was  not  until  latei',  di'iven  to  do  so  l)y  the  cold, 
that  man  learnt  to  use  the  uatui'al  caves  hollowed  out 


Fu;.  49,  —  Mylodon  robustus. 

in  limestone  i-ocks,  either  in  geological  convulsions  or 
hy  the  ([uictei'  action  of  watei'.  Tlie  absence  in  tlic 
caves  whicli  have  been  excavated  in  America  of  imple- 
ments of  the  Chelleen  type,  the  most  ancient  known  as 
yet,  would  point  to  this  conclusion,  though  it  is  impos- 
sible to  fix  the  earliest  date  of  theii'  occupation.  This 
date,  moreover,  varies  very  niucli  in  different  localities. 
Tlie  eai'tli    was  l)ut  gi'adually   peopled,  and  our  ances- 


130  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

tors  penetrated  into  different  countries  in  snccessive 
migrations.  Some  caves  have  recently  been  discovered 
in  Wales,  in  the  midst  of  Glacial  deposits/  The 
Boulder  Clay  and  marine  drift  on  neighboring  heights 
are  incontrovertible  proofs  of  the  submergence  of  this 
region,  when  Grreat  Britain  was  almost  completely 
covered  with  ice.  Excavations  made  in  1880  have 
brought  to  light  a  series  of  deposits,  one  above  the 
othei",  the  gravel  and  red  earth  containing  Quaternaiy 
bones  and  worked  flints,  whilst  the  stalagmite  and 
ooze  are  evidently  of  more  recent  origin.  This  is  the 
usual  state  of  thinsfs  in  all  the  Eno-lish  caves :  but  in 
those  of  the  Clyde,  the  Ijone  Ijeds  had  been  disturbed 
and  mixed  with  sti-iated  pebbles  and  Glacial  drift. 
From  this  Hicks,  who  superintended  the  excavations, 
concluded  that  man  and  the  Quaternary  animals  had 
lived  in  those  caves  before  the  Glacial  epoch,  and 
before  the  great  submergence,  which  in  some  places 
was  no  less  than  some  1,300  feet  below  the  present 
level  of  the  sea.  If  this  were  so,  it  would  be  one  of 
the  most  ancient  proofs  not  only  of  the  presence  of 
man,  but  also  of  the  kind  of  habitation  he  first  dwelt 
in.  These  conclusions  have,  however,  been  hotly  dis- 
puted. M.  Arcelin^  remarks  that  there  are  in  England 
two  exceptional  geological  landmaiks,  the  Foi'est  Bed 
I'epresenting  the  last  Pliocene  foi'mations,  and  the 
River  Gravels,  which  are  tlie  most  ancient  Quater- 
nary deposits.  Between  the  tw<»,  ^\■e  find  the  Boulder 
Clay  of  Glacial  Drigin.  Now  the  fauna  of  the  caves 
of  the  Clyde,  far  from  resembling  that  of  the  Forest 

'  "  On  Some  Recent  Researches  in  Cone-Caves  in  Wales,"  Proc.  GcoL,  Asso., 
vol.  ix.   "On  (he  Klynnon,  Benno,  and  Cwyu  Caves,"  Gcol.  Mag.,  Dec,  1886. 
-'  Revue  des  Questions  Scientijiques,  April,  1SS7. 


CA  VES.  1 3 1 

Bed,  appears  to  he  more  recent  than  that  of  the  ancient 
deposits  of  the  River  Gravels,  Amongst  this  fauna 
we  find  neither  the  Khphas  (UitiquKs  nor  tlie  Jxhi- 
noceros  MevcMl  j  the  worked  Hints  ai-e  not  like  those 
known  as  belonging  to  the  River-Gravel  type,  but  the 
relics  more  nearly  resemble  those  of  the  Reindeer 
period  of  France.  It  is  therefore  im[)Ossible,  in  the 
present  state  of  ou'r  knowledge,  to  assert  that  man 
lived  in  the  southwest  of  England  in  the  Glacial 
epoch,  to  the  phenomena  of  which,  if  he  witnessed 
them,  he  must  eventually  have  fallen  a  victim. 

Our  ancestoi's  must  constantly  have  disputed  the 
possession  of  their  caves  of  refuge  with  animals,  but 
there  is  often  a  certain  distinction  between  those 
chiefly  occupied  by  man  and  the  mere  dens  of  wild 
beasts.  The  latter  are  generally  more  difficult  of  access, 
and  are  only  to  be  entered  by  long,  low,  narrow,  dark 
passages.  Those  permanently  inhabited  b}'  man  are 
wide,  not  very  deep,  and  they  are  well  lighted.  That 
at  Montgaudier,  for  instance,  has  an  arched  entrance 
some  forty-five  feet  wide  by  eighteen  high.  The  cave- 
men had  already  learnt  to  appreciate  the  advantages  of 
air  and  light. 

The  caves  are  often  of  considei'able  height ;  that  of 
Massat  is  some  560  feet  high,  that  of  Lherm  is  655, 
that  of  Bouiclieta  nearly  755,  that  of  Loubens  820,  and 
that  of  Santhenay  is.  as  much  as  1,344  feet  high. 
Those  of  Eyzies,  Moustier,  and  Aurignac  are  also  very 
lofty.  As  the  valley's  wei'e  hollowed  out  by  the  rush- 
ing toi'rents  of  the  Quaternary  floods,  men  sought  a 
home  near  the  waters  which  were  indispensable  to 
their  existence,  and  came  to  dwell  on  the  shores  of 
rivers.    The  most  ancient  of  the  inhabited  caves,  there- 


132  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

fore,  are  those  on  the  highest  levels,  but  the  difference 
in  the  nature  of  the  country  and  the  varying  force  of 
geological  action  have  led  to  so  many  exceptions,  that 
all  we  can  say  with  any  certainty  is  that  the  caves 
were  inhabited  at  different  epochs.  That  of  Mont- 
gaudier,  for  instance,  was  filled  with  an  accumulation 
of  ooze  about  forty  feet  thick.  Weapf)ns  and  tools 
lay  one  above  the  other  from  the  l)ottom  to  the  top, 
and  it  is  easy  to  distinguish  the  succession  of  hearths 
b}'^  the  blackened  earth,  cinders,  charcoal,  and  crushed 
bones  lying  about  them. 

In  the  Placard  Cave  eight  different  deposits  bear 
witness  to  the  presence  of  man  ;  and  these  are  separated 
])y  others  bare  of  traces  of  human  occupation.  The 
lowest  deposit,  which  is  some  twenty-five  feet  below 
the  present  level  of  the  soil,  contains  worked  flints  of 
the  Mousterien  type,  above  which,  but  sepai-ated  by 
an  accumulation  of  dehris  which  has  fallen  from  the 
roof,  comes  a  layer  in  which  was  found  a  number  of 
arrow-heads  of  the  sha[)e  of  laui'el  leaves.  The  fauna 
of  l)oth  these  levels  includes  the  reindeer,  the  horse, 
and  the  aui'ochs.  As  we  go  up  we  find,  above  another 
layer  of  debris,  the  Solutreen  type  of  tools  and  wea[)- 
ons  re[)resented  by  bone  implements  and  numerous 
arrow-heads,  this  time  stalked  and  notched.  The  four 
following  levels  correspond  with  those  belonging  to 
what  is  kno\vn  as  the  Madeleine  type,  and  the  arrow- 
heads aie  decorated  with  jjjeometrical  desis^ns.  The 
traces  of  human  occupation  at  different  times,  doubtless 
separated  by  long  intervals,  are  tlierefore  very  clearly 
defined.  The  Fontabert  Cave,  in  Dauphinc,  contained, 
at  a  depth  of  about  six  feet,  traces  of  fire  and  I'oughly 
worked  Hints,  and  about  three  feet  bel(>\\'  the  surface 


CAVES.  133 

lay  the  skeleton  of  a  man,  w  bo  had  perhaps  been  over- 
taken by  a  fall  of  earth,  still  holding  in  his  hand  a 
polished  dipper  of  fine  vvorkiuanshij^  Yet  a  third  and 
evidently  more  recent  i)eriod  is  characterized  by  a  jade 
crescent.  We  might  easily  multiply  instances  of  a  simi- 
lar kind,  but  that  we  wish  to  avoid  so  much  re[)etiti(jn. 

We  soon  begin  to  find  e\  idence  of  the  2)rogress  made 
by  man,  and  though  in  Neolithic  times  he  still  con- 
tinued to  occupy  caves  he  learned  to  adapt  them  better 
to  his  needs.  The  rock  shelters  of  the  Petit-Morin 
valley,  so  well  explored  by  M.  de  Baye,  are  the  best 
examples  we  can  give. 

These  caves  are  hollowed  out  of  a  very  thick  belt  of 
cretaceous  limestone.  They  date  from  different  epochs, 
and  each  presents  special  characteiistics  which  can 
easily  be  recognized.  Some  were  used  as  burial-places, 
others  as  habitations.  In  the  former  the  entrance  is  of 
irregular  sha})e,  the  walls  are  roughly  cut,  and  the 
woi'k  is  of  the  most  elementary  description.  The 
sepulchral  caves  were  simply  closed  by  a  large  stone 
rolled  into  place  and  covered  with  rubbish,  the  better 
to  hide  the  entrance.  The  shelters  used  to  live  in 
show  much  more  careful  work,  and  are  divided  into 
two  uuecpial  parts  by  a  wall  cut  in  the  living  rock. 
To  get  into  the  second  partition  one  has  to  go  down 
steps,  cut  in  the  limestone,  and  these  steps  are  worn 
with  lonix  usaij^e.  The  entrance  was  cut  out  of  a  mas- 
sive  piece  of  rock,  left  thick  on  pui'pose,  and  on  either 
side  of  the  0})ening  the  edges  still  show  the  rabbet 
^vllic•ll  was  to  receive  the  door.  Two  small  holes  on 
the  right  and  left  were  probably  used  to  fix  a  bar 
across  the  front  to  streno-then  the  entrance.  A  ijood 
many  of  these  caves  are  provided  with  an  opening  for 


134  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

ventilation,  and  some  skilful  contrivances  were  re- 
sorted to  for  keeping  out  watei-.  Inside  we  find  differ- 
ent floors,  shelves,  and  crockets  cut  in  the  chalk,  and 
on  the  floors  M.  de  Baye  picked  up  shells,  ornaments, 
and  flints,  which  were  lying  Just  where  their  owners  had 
left  them.  Very  different  is  all  this  from  the  Vezere 
caves,  and  everything  proves  an  undeniable  improve- 
ment in  the  conditions  of  life. 

The  most  interesting  of  all  the  objects  found  in  these 
caves  are,  however,  the  carvings ;  but  few  date  from 
Neolithic  times,  and  some  archaeologists  have  argued 
from  their  absence  in  favor  of  the  displacement  every- 
where of  old  I'aces  by  the  incursion  of  uew-comei's. 
Some  of  these  carvings  represent  hafted  hatchets,  the 
flint  being  painted  black  to  make  the  I'aised  design 
stand  out  better.  Others  represent  human  figures.  In 
the  Coizard  Cave,  for  instance,  was  found  a  roughly 
outlined  representation  of  a  woman  with  a  prominent 
nose,  eyes  indicated  by  black  dots,  highly  developed 
breasts,  but  no  lower  limbs.  A  necklace  adorns  her 
throat,  and  a  pendant  hanging  from  this  necklace  is 
colored  yello^v.  On  the  passage  leading  to  the  door  is 
engraved  another  figui'e  which  was  originally  more 
accurately  drawn  than  the  others,  but  is  not  in  such 
good  preservation.  In  the  Coui-Jonnet  Cave  we  see  a 
woman  with  a  bii'd's  head  ;  she  was  probably  one  of 
the  lares  senates.,  the  ])rotectors  of  the  domestic  hearth. 
We  meet  with  this  same  goddess  at  Santorin,  and  at 
Ti'oy,  and  on  the  shores  of  the  Vistula,  which  is  a  very 
interesting:  ethnolomcal  fact. 

The  objects  found  in  tlie  scpuh'hral  caves  are  im- 
portant, and  included  a  nundjer  of  ai  row-heads  with 
transverse   cutting  edges.     There   is   n<»   doubt   about 


CA  VES.  I  3  5 

their  use;  tliey  have  l)eeii  picked  up  in  Lhick  eai'th,  in 
contact  with  liuiiian  Ijones,  the  decoiii position  of  the 
soft  parts  of  which  caused  them  to  fall  out  of  the 
mortal  ^vound  they  had  inflicted.  With  these  ai'i'ow- 
heads  wei-e  found  flint  knives,  lai'ge  sloped  scra])ei's, 
polishers,  and  bone  stilettos,  the  femora  of  a  ruminant 
with  a  pig's  tooth  fixed  on  to  each  end,  hoes  made  of 
stag  horn,  heads  and  pendants  made  of  bone,  shell, 
schist,  quartz,  and  aragonite,  with  the  teeth  of  bears, 
boars,  wolves,  and  foxes,  all  pierced  with  holes.  Some 
of  the  shell  and  schist  beads  were  spread  upon  the 
surface  of  the  skull,  and  perhaps  formed  a  net  or 
resille^  such  as  that  alread}^  referred  to  as  found  at 
Baousse-Rousse. 

For  centuries  this  occupation  of  caves  continued, 
offering  as  they  did  a  shelter  that  was  dry  and  warm 
in  winter,  and  cool  in  summer.  Homer  tells  us  that 
the  Cyclops  lived  on  the  heights  of  the  mountains  and 
in  the  depths  of  the  caves,^  and  Prometheus  says  that, 
like  the  feeble  ant,  men  dwelt  in  deep  subterranean 
caves,  where  the  sun  never  penetrated.^ 

Whilst  the  men  of  the  Petit-Morin  valley  hollow^ed 
out  caves,  or  enlarged  those  made  by  nature,  others 
took  refuge  in  huts  made  of  dried  clay  and  interlaced 
branches,  or  in  tents  of  the  skins  of  the  animals  they 
had  slain,  and,  though  these  fragile  dwellings  have 
disappeared,  leaving  no  trace,  there  yet  remain  indeli- 
l)le  evidences  of  the  presence  of  many  successive  gen- 
erations. Every\vhere  thi-oughout  the  world  we  find 
heaps  of  rubbish,  consisting  chiefly  of  the  shells  of 
mollusca  and  Crustacea,  broken  bones,  flakes  of  flint, 

'  "Odyssey,"  book  ix.,  v.  105-124. 
^  j^schvlus  :    "  Prometheus  Bovmd." 


136  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

and  fragments  of  stone  and  bone  iniplements,  covering 
vast  areas  and  often  rising  to  a  consideraV^le  height. 

Not  until  onr  own  day  did  these  rubbish  heaps 
attract  attention,  and  it  was  reserved  to  our  own  gen- 
eration, so  interested  in  all  that  relates  to  the  past,  to 
recognize  their  true  significance.  Steenstrup  noticed, 
in  the  north  of  Europe,  that  these  mounds  consisted 
nearly  entirely  of  the  shells  of  edil)le  species,  such  as 
the  oyster,  mussel,  and  littorina  liUorea  j  that  they 
wei-e  all  those  of  adult  specimens,  but  not  all  subject 
to  similar  conditions  of  existence  or  native  to  the  same 
waters.  The  kitchen-middings,  or  hea2:)s  of  kitchen 
refuse— such  was  the  name  given  to  these  shell- 
mounds — could  not  have  been  the  natural  deposits 
left  by  the  waves  after  storms,  for  in  that  case  they 
would  have  been  mixed  with  quantities  of  sand  and 
pebbles.  The  conclusion  is  inevitable,  that  man  alone 
could  have  piled  up  these  accumulations,  which  were 
the  refuse  flung  away  day  by  day  after  his  meals.  The 
excavation  of  the  kitchen-middings  confirmed  in  a  re- 
markable manner  the  opinion  of  Steenstrup,  and  every- 
where a  number  of  important  objects  were  discovered. 
In  several  places  the  old  hearths  were  brought  to  light. 
They  consisted  of  flat  stones,  on  which  ^vere  piles  of 
cinders,  with  fragments  of  wood  and  charcoal.  It  was 
now  finally  proved  that  these  mounds  occupied  the  site 
of  ancient  settlements,  the  inhabitants  of  which  rarely 
left  the  coast,  and  fed  chiefly  on  the  mollusca  w^hich 
abounded  in  the  waters  of  the  North  Sea. 

These  primeval  ra(;es,  however  savage  they  may 
have  lieen,  wei'e  not  wanting  in  intelligence.  The 
earliest  inhabitants  of  Ilussia  placed  theii'  dw^ellings 
near  rivers    al)ove    the    highest    flood-level   known  to 


KITCHEN-MIDDINGS.  1 37 

or  foreseen  by  them.  The  Scandinavians  were  most 
precise  in  the  orientation  of  their  homes,  and  M.  de 
Quatrefages  points  out  that  the  kitchen-midding  of 
Srelager  is  set  against  a  hill  in  the  best  position  for 
protecting  those  who  lived  near  it  from  the  north 
winds,  which  are  so  trying  in  these  districts  on 
account  of  their  violence.  At  Havelse,  says  Sir  John 
Lubbock,  the  settlement  was  on  rather  higher  ground, 
and,  though  close  to  the  shore,  was  quite  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  waves.  The  English  visitors  had  an 
excavation  made  whilst  they  were  present,  and  in  two 
or  three  hours  they  obtained  about  a  hundred  frag- 
ments of  bone,  many  rude  flakes,  sling  stones,  and 
fragments  of  flint,  together  with  some  rough  axes  of 
the  ordinary  shell-mound  type.  The  excavations  at 
Meilgaard  a  little  later  by  the  same  explorers  were 
even  more  fruitful  in  results. 

Scandinavia  does  not  appear  to  have  been  occupied 
in  the  PaltBolithic  period,  and  the  most  ancient  facts 
concerning  it  only  date  from  the  expeditions  of  the 
Romans  against  the  Teutons,  and  our  knowledge  even 
of  them  is  very  incomplete.^  We  are  still  ignorant  of 
nuich  which  may  have  been  known  to  the  Carthaginians 
and  the  Phcenicians.  It  is  possible  that  in  the  remote 
days  under  notice  the  Scandinavians  were  ignorant  of 
the  art  of  tilling  the  ground,  for  so  far  no  cereal  or 
agricultural  2^i*<>duct  of  any  kind  has  been  discovered, 
nor  the  bones  of  any  domestic  animal,  except  indeed 
those  of  the  dog,  which  may,  however,  have  been  still 
in  a  wild  state.  Amongst  the  bones  collected  from  the 
kitchen-middings,  those  of  the  stag,  the  kid,  and  the 

'  A.  Maury  :   "  La  Vieille  Civilisation  Scandinave,"  Revue  des  Deux  Alondes, 
September,  1880. 


138-  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

boar  are  much  tlie  most  numerous.  The  l^ear,  the 
urus,  the  wiki  cat,  the  otter,  the  2)orpoise,  the  seal,  and 
the  small  mammals,  the  marten,  the  water-rat  and 
the  mouse,  have  also  been  found.  At  Havelse  were 
collected  more  than  3,500  mammal  bones,  amongst 
which  do  not  occur  those  of  the  musk-ox,  the  reindeer, 
the  elk,  or  the  marmot ;  their  absence  beai'ing  witness 
to  a  more  temperate  climate  than  that  of  the  present 
day  in  the  regions  under  notice.  The  stag  antlers 
found  belong  to  every  season  of  the  year,  from  which 
we  may  conclude  that  the  people  of  these  districts,  like 
the  cave-men  of  the  Pyrenees,  had  given  up  a  nomad 
life  and  remained  at  home  all  the  year  I'ouud,  living  in 
the  dwellings  they  had  built  upon  the  shores  of 
the  sea. 

Amongst  the  Ijirds  found,  we  may  mention  the  large 
penguin,  now  extinct,  the  moor-fowl,  which  fed  entirely 
on  pine  buds,  and  several  species  of  ducks  and  geese  ; 
whilst  amongst  the  fish  were  the  herring,  the  cod,  the 
dab,  and  the  eel.  The  numerous  relics  of  chelonia 
prove  the  existence  of  numbers  of  the  turtle  tribe  in 
the  North  Sea. 

A  great  variety  of  objects,  most  of  them  of  a  coarse 
type,  have  been  found  beneath  the  kitchen-middings ; 
metals  are  however  com[)letely  absent,  and  it  is  proba- 
ble that  they  wei'e  (juite  unknown  to  the  Scandina\ians 
for  several  centui'ies  after  their  arrival  in  the  country. 

Tt  is  easy  to  ((Uote  similai-  facts  in  other  countries. 
In  1877,  Count  Ouvarof  mentioned,  at  the  Arclh-eologi- 
cal  Congress  at  Kazan,  sonic  kitchen-middings  near  the 
Oka,  a  little  ri\cr  flowing  into  the  \'^olga  iieai-  Nijni- 
Novgorod.  In  excavating  some  hoagrys,  or  little 
mounds  of  sand   ovei'lookiug  the  valley,  he  discovered 


A'/rcf//':.v.A//DDfNCS.  139 

amongst  the  layers  of  alliiviuiii,  siircessi\e  deposits  of 
cinders  and  fi-agnients  of  charcoal,  which  a[)i)eai'  t<>  have 
been  the  i-eiiiains  of  a  fire.  A  little  lower  down  in 
another  deposit  were  fragments  of  pottery,  stone 
weapons  and  implements,  and  an  immense  number  of 
shells.  Judging  from  these  relics  of  their  daily  life, 
this  numerous  population  must  have  fed  ex<dusivelv  on 
fish  and  mollusca,  for  excavations  brought  to  light  but 
few  mammal  bones.  The  moUusca  were  all  of  species 
that  only  live  in  salt  water.  From  this  Ave  know  that 
the  waves  washed  the  shores  near  this  hoiigry,  and  that 
a  milder  climate  pi'obably  prevailed  in  these  regions, 
making  life  more  supportable. 

Virchow  has  recognized  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Burt- 
neek  in  Germany,  a  kitchen-midding  belonging  to  the 
earliest  Neolithic  times,  perhaps  even  to  the  close  of 
the  Palaeolithic  [)eriod.  He  there  picked  up  some  stone 
and  Ixme  implements,  and  notices  on  the  one  hand  the 
absence  of  the  reindeer,  and  on  the  other,  as  in  Scandi- 
navia, that  of  domestic  animals.  But  in  this  case,  the 
home  of  the  living  became  the  tondj  of  the  dead,  and 
numerous  skeletons  lay  beside  the  abandoned  hearths. 
Similar  discoveries  have  been  made  in  Portugal ;  shell- 
hea[»s  having  been  found  thirty -five  to  forty  miles  from 
the  coast,  and  from  sixty-five  to  eighty  feet  above  the 
sea-level.  Here  also  excavations  have  l)rought  to  light 
several  diff(M-ent  heai'ths ;  and  in  many  of  the  most 
ancient  kitchen-middings  in  the  valley  of  the  Tigris 
were  found  crouching  skeletons,  proving  that  here  too 
the  home  had  l>ecome  the  tomb.^ 

Similai-  deposits  are  by  no  means  rare  in  France.  M. 
du   Chatellier    mentions    one    in   Brittany,   which    he 

'  F.  de  Olivera  :  "As  Racas  dos  Kjoekkenmoeddings  de  ^^ugem,"  Lisbon,  iSSi. 


I40  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

estimates  as  325  cubic  feet  in  size.  From  it  he  has 
taken  spear-  and  aiTow- heads,  knives  and  scrapers, 
some  liighly  finished,  others  but  roughly  cut  and  often 
with  scarcely  any  shape  at  all.  The  population  was 
evidently  ichthyophagous,  to  judge  by  the  vast  accu- 
mulations of  shells  of  scallops,  oysters,  limpets,  pectens, 
and  other  mollusca.  The  few  animal  bones  are  those 
of  the  stag,  the  bear,  and  certain  wading  birds. 

At  Canche,  near  Etaples,  has  been  made  out  a  series 
of  mounds  forming  a  semicircle  some  eight  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  in  extent.  These  mounds  are  made  up  of 
successive  layers  of  shells  and  charcoal,  the  relics  of 
successive  occupations.  Lastly  we  must  mention  a 
kitchen-midding  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Somme, 
which  is  eight  hundred  and  twenty  feet  long  by  al)out 
one  hundred  wide.  It  consists  principally  of  shells  of 
adult  species,  with  wliich  are  mixed  fragments  of  coarse 
black  pottery  and  numerous  goat  and  sheep  bones,  the 
latter  bearina:  witness  to  a  more  recent  date  than  that 
of  the  kitchen-middiugs  of  Scandinavia  or  of  Germany. 

Throughout  Europe  similar  facts  are  coming  to 
light.  Evans  mentions  heaps  of  shells  on  the  coasts  of 
England.  Chantre  speaks  of  others  near  Lake  Gotchai 
in  the  C-aucasus,  and  Nordenskiold  of  others  at  C-ape 
North,  to  which  he  wishes  to  restore  its  true  name  of 
Jokaipi.  He  says  these  mounds  are  exactly  like  those 
of  Denmark. 

It  is,  however,  chiefly  in  America  that  these  heaps 
attract  attention,  for  there  huge  shell-mounds  stretch 
along  the  coast  in  Newfoundland,  Nova  Scotia,  Massa- 
chusetts, Louisiana,  California,  and  Nicaragua.  We 
meet  with  them  amiin  near  the  Orinoco  and  the  Missis- 
sl])])i,  in  the  Aleutiaji   Islands,  and  in  the  Gulanas,  in 


KI TCHEN-MIDDINGS.  1 4 1 

Brazil  and  in  Patagonia,  on  the  coasts  of  the  Pacific  as 
on  those  of  the  Athintic.  Owing  to  the  darker  color 
of  the  vegetation  growing  on  them,  the  shell-heaps  of 
Tierra  del  Fiiego  are  seen  from  afar  by  the  navigator. 
For  a  long  time  the  true  character  of  these  mounds 
was  not  known,  and  they  were  attributed  to  natural 
causes,  such  as  the  emergence  of  the  ancient  coastdine 
from  the  sea,  and  it  was  not  until  lately  that  it  was 
discovered  that  they  were  the  work  of  men. 

Some  of  these  kitchen-middings  are  of  great  size. 
Sir  Charles  Lyell  describes  one  on  St.  Simon's  Island, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Altamaha  (Georgia),  whicli  covers 
ten  acres  of  ground  and  varies  in  height  from  five  to 
ten  feet.  It  consisted  almost  entirely  of  oyster  shells. 
In  America,  as  in  Europe,  excavations  brought  to  light 
hatchets,  flints,  arrows,  and  fragments  of  pottery. 
Another  of  these  mounds,  near  the  St.  John  Kiver, 
consists,  as  does  that  visited  by  Lyell,  of  oyster  shells, 
and  is  of  extraordinary  dimensions,  being  three  hundred 
feet  long,  and  though  the  exact  width  cannot  be  made 
out,  is  certainly  several  hundred  feet  across.  Putnam^ 
gives  an  account  of  the  excavation  of  one  of  these  mounds 
formed  of  shells  of  the  Mya^  Ve'mis,  Pecteji,  Buccimomj 
and  Natica  genera.  It  stretched  along  the  sea-coast 
for  a  distance  of  several  hundred  feet,  it  was  from  four 
to  five  feet  thick,  and  penetrated  some  distance  below 
the  surface  of  the  ground.  The  valves  had  been  opened 
with  the  aid  of  heat,  and  the  animal  bones  found  with 
the  shells  had  been  broken  with  heavy  hammers  which 
were  found  in  the  kitchen-midding.  The  bones  in- 
cluded those  of  the  stag,  the  wolf,  and  the  fox.  Fishes 
were  also  represented  by  remains  of  tlie  cod,  the  plaice, 

"^  Rep07-t  Peabody  Museum,  1882. 


142  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

and  chelonia  by  turtle  shells.  Some  bird  bones  were 
also  found,  and  the  knives,  arrow-  and  spear-heads, 
scrapers,  etc.,  were  all  of  the  rudest  workmanship. 
Mr.  Phel[>s  has  superintended  yet  more  important 
excavations  at  Damariscotta'  and  all  along  the  coast  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Penobscot.  In  the  lowest  layers  he 
made  out  ancient  hearths,  and  found  numerous  frag- 
ments of  pottery  which  ai-e  the  most  ancient  exam2:)les 
of  keramic  ware  found  in  New  England,  and  were 
covered  with  incised  ornamentation  of  considerable 
refinement. 

The  kitchen-middings  of  Florida  and  Alabama  are 
even  more  remarkable.  There  is  one  on  Amelia  Island 
which  is  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long  with  a  medium  deptli 
of  three  feet  and  a  breadth  of  nearly  five.  That  of 
Bear's  Point  covei's  sixty  acres  of  ground,  that  of 
Anercerty  Point  one  hundred,  and  that  of  Santa  Rosa 
five  hundred.  Others  taper  to  a  great  height.  Turtle 
Mound,  near  Smyrna,  is  formed  of  a  mass  of  oyster 
shells  attaining  a  height  of  nearly  thirty  feet,  and  the 
height  of  several  others  is  more  than  forty  feet.^  In 
all  of  them  bushels  of  shells  have  already  been  found, 
although  a  great  part  of  the  sites  they  occupy  are  still 
unexplored ;  huge  trees,  roots,  and  ti'opical  cree})ei"s 
having,  in  the  course  of  many  centuries,  covered  them 
with  an  almost  impenetrable  thicket. 

Whether  man  did  or  did  not  live  in  the  basin  of  the 
Delaware  at  the  most  remote  times  of  which  we  have 
any  knowledge,  we  meet  with  traces  of  his  occupation 
in  the  same  latitude  at  more  recent  periods.  At  Loug- 
Nick-Branch  is  a  shell-mound  that  extends  for  half  a 

'  Report  Peabody  Museum,  1882  and  1885. 

^  Brinton  :   "Notes  on  the  Floridian  Peninsula,"  Thiladelphia,  1849. 


KITCHEN-MIDDINGS.  1 43 

mile,  and  in  California  there  is  a  yet  larger  kitchen- 
niidding.  It  measures  a  mile  in  length  by  half  a  mile 
in  width,  and,  as  in  similar  accumulations,  excavations 
have  yielded  thousands  of  stone  hammers  and  bone 
implements  (Fig.  24). 

The  shell-mounds  of  which  we  have  so  far  been 
speaking  are  all  near  the  sea,  but  there  is  yet  another 
consisting  entirely  of  marine  shells  fifty  miles  beyond 
Mobile.  This  fact  seems  to  point  to  a  considerable 
change  in  the  level  of  the  ground  since  the  time  of 
man's  first  occupancy,  for  he  is  not  likely  to  have  taken 
all  the  trouble  involved  in  carrying  the  mollnsca 
necessary  for  his  daily  food  so  far,  when  he  might  so 
easily  have  settled  down  near  the  shore. 

I  cannot  close  this  account  of  the  kitchen-niiddings, 
without  calling  attention  to  two  very  interesting  facts. 
The  importance  of  these  mounds  bears  witness  alike  to 
the  number  of  the  inhabitants  who  dwelt  near  them, 
and  the  long  duration  of  their  sojourn.  AYorsaae  sets 
back  the  initial  date  of  the  most  ancient  of  the  shell- 
mounds  of  the  New  Woj'ld  more  than  three  thousand 
years.  This  is  however  a  delicate  question,  on  which 
in  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge  it  is  difficult  to 
hazard  a  serious  opinion.  It  is  easier  to  come  to  a  con- 
clusion on  other  points:  the  close  resemblance,  for 
instance,  between  the  kitchen-middings  of  America  and 
those  of  Europe.  In  both  continents  we  find  the  early 
inhabitants  fed  almost  entirely  on  fish ;  their  weapons, 
tools,  and  potteiy  were  almost  identical  in  chai-acter; 
and  in  both  cases  the  characteristic  animals  of  Qua- 
ternary times  had  disap]3eared,  and  the  use  of  metals 
still  remained  unknown.  Are  these  remarkable  coin- 
cidences the  result  of  chance,  or  must  we  not  rather 


144  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

suppose  tbat  people  of  the  same  origin  occupied  at  tlie 
same  epoch  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  ? 

The  man  of  tlie  kitchen-middings  evidently  had  a 
fixed  abode.  Long  since,  the  tent,  tlie  temporary 
shelter  of  the  nomad,  liad  given  place  to  the  liut.  We 
have  already  said  ^\hat  this  hut  may  have  been  like, 
but  the  most  certain  data  we  have  as  to  human  habita- 
tions at  this  still  but  little  known  epoch,  are  those  sup- 
plied by  the  Lake  Stations  of  Switzerland,  and  it  is  to 
our  own  generation  that  we  are  indebted  for  the  first 
discoveries  relating  to  them. 

The  memory  of  these  Lake  Stations  had  completely 
passed  away,  and  it  was  only  the  long  drought  which 
desolated  Switzerland  in  1853  and  1854,  and  the  extra- 
ordinary sinking  of  Lake  Zurich,  revealing  the  piles 
still  standing,  that  attracted  the  attention  of  ar- 
chaeologists. In  the  space  still  enclosed  by  these  piles 
lay  scattered  pell-mell  stones,  bones,  burnt  cinders  of 
ancient  hearths,  pestles,  hammers,  pottei-y,  hatchets  of 
various  shapes,  implements  of  many  kinds,  with  innu- 
merable objects  of  daily  use.  These  relics  prove  that 
some  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Switzerland  had 
dwelt  on  the  lake  where  they  were  found,  in  a  refuge 
to  which  they  had  probably  retired  to  escape  from  the 
attacks  of  their  fellow-men  or  wild  beasts.  Though 
they  had  succeeded  in  getting  away  from  these  enemies, 
they  were  to  fall  victims  to  a  yet  more  formidable 
adversary,  and  the  half-burnt  piles  have  preserved  to 
our  own  day  the  traces  of  a  conflagration  that  destroyed 
the  Lake  dwelling  so  laboriously  constructed. 

The  discovery  of  these  piles  excited  general  interest, 
an  interest  that  was  redoubled  when  similar  discoveries 
revealed  that  all  the  lakes  of  Switzerland  were  dotted 


LAKE    STATIONS.  1 45 

with  stations  that  had  })eeu  built  looo;  centuries  before 
in  the  midst  of  the  waters.  Twenty  such  stations  were 
made  out  on  Lake  Bienne,  twenty-four  on  the  Lake  of 
Geneva,  thirty  on  Lake  Constance,  forty-nine  on  that  of 
Neuchatel,  and  otliers,  thougli  not  so  many,  on  Lakes 
Sempach,  Morat,  Mooseedorf,  and  Pfeffikon.  In  fact 
more  than  t\vo  hundred  Lake  Stations  are  now  known 
in  Switzerland ;  and  liow  many  more  may  have  com- 
j)letely  disappeared  % 

There  is  reall}^  nothing  to  surprise  us  in  the  fact  of 
])uihlings  rising  from  the  midst  of  waters.  They  are 
known  in  historic  times  ;  Herodotus  relates  that  the 
inhabitants  of  pile  dwellings  on  Lake  Prasias  success- 
fully repelled  the  attacks  of  the  Persians  commanded 
by  Megabasus.  Alonzo  de  OJeda,  the  companion  of 
Amerigo  Vespucci,  speaks  of  a  village  consisting  of 
twenty  large  houses  iMiilt  on  piles  in  the  midst  of  a 
lake,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Venezuela  in  honor 
of  Venice,  his  native  town.  We  meet  with  pile  dwell- 
ings in  our  own  day  in  the  Celebes,  in  New  Guinea, 
in  Java,  at  Mindanao,  and  in  the  Caroline  Islands. 
Sir  Richard  Burton  saw  pile  dwellings  at  Dahomey, 
Captain  Cameron  on  the  lakes  of  Central  Africa,  and 
the  Bishop  of  Labuan  tells  us  that  the  houses  of  the 
Dayaks  are  built  on  lofty  platforms  on  the  shores  of 
rivers.  The  accounts  of  historians  and  travellers  help 
us  to  understand  alike  the  mode  of  construction  of  the 
Lake  Stations  and  the  kind  of  life  led  by  their  in- 
habitants. 

The  Lake  dwellings  of  Switzerland  may  be  assigned 
to  three  different  peiiods.  That  of  Chavannes,  on  Lake 
Bienne,  belongs  to  the  earliest  type.  The  hatchets 
found  are  small,  scarcely  polished,  and  always  of  native 


146  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

rock,  sucli  as  serpentine,  diorite,  or  saussunte ;  the  pot- 
tery is  coarse,  mixed  ^vitli  grains  of  sand  or  bits  of 
quartz ;  the  bottoms  of  tlie  vases  are  thick,  and  no 
traces  of  ornamentation  can  be  made  out.  The  pile- 
dwellings  of  the  second  peiiod,  such  as  those  of 
Locras  and  Latringen,  show  considei'able  progress  ;  the 
hatchets,  some  of  which  are  very  large,  ai'e  well  made. 
Several  of  them  ai'e  of  nephrite,  chloromelanite,  and 
jade ;  and  their  number,  as  compared  ^^'ith  those  in 
minerals  native  to  Switzerland,  varies  from  five  to  eight 
per  cent.  Here  and  there  in  rare  instances  we  find  a 
few  copper  or  bronze  lamellae  amongst  the  piles.  The 
potteiy  is  no\\-  of  finer  clay,  better  kneaded  ;  and  or- 
namentation, including  chevrons,  wolves'  teeth,  and 
mammillated  designs,  is  more  common.  The  handle, 
however,  is  still  a  mere  projection.  The  third  })eriod, 
which  we  may  date  from  the  transition  from  stone  to 
bronze,  is  laigely  represented  ;  copper  weapons  and 
tools  are  already  numerous,  and  bronze  is  beginning  to 
occur.  The  stone  hatchets  and  hammers  are  skilfully 
pierced,  and  wooden  or  horn  implements  are  often 
found.  Tlie  vases  are  of  various  shapes,  all  provided 
^vitll  handles,  and  are  covered  with  ornaments,  some 
made  with  the  fingers  of  the  potter,  others  with  the 
help  of  a  twig  or  some  fine  string.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  are  no  hatchets  of  foreign  rock ;  commerce 
and  intei'coui'st'  with  peojile  at  a  distance  had  ceased, 
or  at  least  become  rarer.  The  tools  are  fixed  into 
handles  of  stag  horn,  Avhich  are  found  in  every  stage 
of  manufacture.  The  personal  property  of  the  Lake 
Dwellers  included  bead  necklaces,  pendants,  buttons, 
needles,  and  horn  combs.  The  teeth  of  animals  served 
as  amulets,  and  the  Ijoues  that  were  of  denser  material 


LAKE   STA  TIONS.  1 47 

than  horn  wei'e  used  us  javelin-  or  arrow-heads.  The  ar- 
rows were  generally  of  triangular  sluipe  and  not  barbed.' 

The  distance  from  the  shore  of  the  most  ancient 
of  the  Lake  dwellings  varies  from  131  to  298  feet. 
Gradually  men  began  to  take  greater  and  gi'eater 
precautions  against  danger,  and  the  most  recent  sta- 
tions are  656  to  984  feet  from  the  banks  of  the  lake. 
The  piles  of  the  Stone  age  are  from  eleven  to  t\velve 
inches  in  diameter ;  those  of  the  later  epochs  ai-e 
sm.aller.  They  are  pointed  at  the  ends,  and  hard- 
ened by  fire.  When  the  piles  had  been  diiven  into 
the  bottom  of  the  lake,  a  platform  was  laid  on 
them  solid  enough  to  bear  the  weight  of  the  huts. 
This  platform  was  made  of  beams  laid  down  liorizon- 
tally,  and  bound  together  by  interlaced  branches.  Two 
modes  of  construction  can  easily  be  distinguished.  In 
one  the  platforms  were  upheld  by  numerous  piles,  ten 
yards  long,  firmly  driven  into  the  mud.  This  is  how 
the  Ffahlhauten,  PaJafittes,  or  pile  dwellings  situated 
in  shallow  w\aters  were  generally  put  together.  In  other 
cases  it  seemed  easier  to  raise  the  soil  round  tbe  piles, 
than  to  drive  them  into  the  hard  rock  which  formed 
the  bed  of  the  lake.  Care  was  then  taken  to  consolidate 
them,  and  keep  them  in  position  with  blocks  of  stone, 
clay,  and  tiers  of  piles.  Keller  gives  to  these  latter 
the  name  of  Pachwerbauten,  and  other  German  archae- 
ologists call  them  Steinhergen. 

The  mean  depth  of  the  waters  in  those  parts  of  the 
lakes  formerly  occupied  by  the  pile  dwellings  is  from 
thirteen  to  sixteen  feet,  and  we  can  still  make  out  the 
piles  when  the  water  is  calm  and  clear.     Worn  though 

'  We  take  many  of  these  details  from   Dr.  Gross'  excellent  work   on    the 
'Pile  Dwellinirs  of  Switzerland." 


148  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

they  may  be,  tlieir  tops  still  emerge  at  a  height  varying 
from  oue  to  thi'ee  feet  above  the  mud  at  the  bottom 
of  the  lake.  Their  number  was  originally  consider- 
able, and  it  is  estimated  that  there  were  forty  thousand 
at  AVangen,  and  a  hundred  thousand  at  Rol)enhausen, 
The  ai'ea  occupied  by  the  stations  varies  considerably  ; 
according  to  Troyon,  that  at  Wangen  was  seven  hun- 
dred paces  long  by  one  hundred  and  twenty  broad. 
Baron  von  Mayenfisch  explored  seventeen  sites  in 
the  Lake  of  Constance,  the  area  of  which  varies  from 
three  to  four  acres.  At  Inkwyl  is  a  little  artificial 
island  about  forty-eight  feet  in  diametei-.  The  Lake 
dwelling  of  Morges,  which  was  still  inhabited  in 
the  Bronze  age,  covers  an  area  of  twelve  hundred 
feet  long  l)y  a  mean  width  of  one  hundred  and  fifty. 
It  is,  however,  useless  to  enumei'ate  the  various  calcu- 
lations that  have  been  made,  as  they  are  founded  on 
nothing  but  more  or  less  probable  guesswork. 

Excavations  show  that  the  huts  that  rose  from  the 
platforms  w^ere  made  of  ^vattle  and  hurdle-work.  In 
different  places  calcined  and  agglutinated  fragments 
have  been  picked  up,  and  pieces  of  clay  which  had 
served  as  facing.  The  house  to  which  they  had  be- 
longed had  l>een  destro}'ed  l^y  fire,  and  the  clay,  haiul- 
ened  in  the  flames,  had  I'esisted  tlie  disintegrating 
action  of  the  water.  On  one  side  tiiis  clay  is  smooth, 
and  oil  th(!  other  it  still  retains  tlie  marks  of  the  inter- 
laced bi-aiiches,  which  had  hel[)ed  to  form  the  inner 
walls.  Some  of  these  marks  are  so  clear  and  I'egulai- 
that  Troyon,  noticing  the  way  they  cui've,  was  able  to 
assert  that  the  huts  were  ciicnlai-,  and  that  they  vaii(Ml 
in  diameter  fi'om  ten  to  fifteen  feet. 

A  recent  discovery  at  Schussenreid  (Wui'temberg) 
gives  com2)leteness   to   our   knowletlge  of   the  Swiss 


l.AKE   STATIONS.  1 49 

Lake  dwellings.  In  tlie  midst  of  a  peat-bog  rises  a 
hut  known  as  a  Knilppelhau,  Avliich  is  sii})[)osed  to 
date  from  the  Stone  age.  It  is  of  rectangular  form, 
and  is  divided  into  two  compartments  communicating 
with  each  other  by  a  foot-bridge  consisting  of  three 
beams  laid  side  by  side.  The  floors  of  this  hut  ai-e 
made  of  I'ounded  wood,  and  the  walls  of  piles  split  in 
half.  Excavations  have  brouf»:ht  to  liirht  several  floors, 
one  above  the  other,  and  divided  by  thick  layers  of 
clay.  The  rising  of  the  level  of  the  peat  doubtless 
compelled  the  Lake  Dweller  to  add  by  degrees  to  the 
height  of  his  house. 

The  Proto-Helvetian  race  were  well-developed  men, 
and  the  bones  that  have  been  collected  show  that  they 
were  not  at  all  wanting  in  symmetry  of  foi'm  or  in 
cranial  capacity.  The  crania  found  are  distinctly  doli- 
chocephalous,  and  their  ownei's  had  evidently  attained 
to  no  small  deo-ree  of  culture  and  of  technical  skill. 
Judging  from  the  length  of  the  femora  found,  though 
it  must  be  added  that  they  are  mostly  those  of  women, 
the  ancient  Lake  Dwellers  were  not  so  tall  as  the 
present  inhabitants  of  Europe.  The  smallness  of  the 
handles  of  their  weapons  and  tools  points  to  the  same 
conclusion.' 

Though  the  imjK>rtance  and  number  of  tlie  dis- 
coveries made  in  Switzerland  render  it  the  classic  laud 
of  Lake  Stations,  it  is  not  the  only  couutiy  in  which 
they  have  been  found.  They  have  been  made  out  in 
the  La2:o  Mao-iijioi-e  and  in  the  lakes  of  Varese, 
Peschiei'a,  and  Garda  in  Lombardy  ;  in  Lake  Salpi  in 
the  Capitauata,  and  in  othci'  {»arts  of  Italy.  Judging 
from  the  objects  recovered  fi'om  these  stations,  they  be- 
longed pai'tly  to  the  Stone  and  partly  to  the  Bronze  age. 

'  ^'ircho\v  :   "  Drei  Scliadel  aus  der  Schweiz." 


150  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

The  pile  dwelliug  of  Lagozza  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  known  to  lis.  It  forms  a  long  square, 
facing  due  east,  and  covers  an  area  of  two  thousand 
six  hundred  yards,  now  completely  overgrown  with  peat 
six  and  a  half  feet  thick.  Amongst  the  posts  still 
standing  can  be  made  out  a  number  of  half-burnt  planks, 
whicli  are  probably  the  remains  of  the  platform.  One 
of  the  posts  was  still  covered  with  1)ai'k,  and  it  was 
easy  to  I'ecognize  the  silver  birch  ( Betula  alha). 
Other  posts  consisted  of  the  trunks  of  resinous  trees, 
such  as  the  Phius  picea,  the  J^ inns  sylvestris,  and  the 
larch,  which  now  only  grow  in  the  lofty  Alpine  valleys. 
Amongst  the  industrial  objects  found  in  the  Lagozza 
pile  dwelling  were  polished  stone  hatchets,  hammers, 
polishers  of  hard  stone,  knife-l^lades,  flint  scraj^iers,  and 
seven  or  eight  arrows  with  transverse  cutting  edges,  a 
form  rare  in  Italy. 

Castelfranco,^  from  whom  we  borrow  these  details, 
has  also,  in  the  excavations  he  supei'intended,  picked  up 
a  number  of  earthenware  spindle-whorls  with  a  hole  in 
the  middle,  amulets,  and  numerous  pieces  of  pottery, 
some  fine  and  some  coarse,  according  to  the  [)urpose 
for  which  they  were  intended.  The  first  mould  had 
in  most  cases  been  covered  over  with  a  layer  of  very 
fine  clay  spread  upon  it  with  the  aid  of  a  kind  of 
boasting-chisel.  We  may  also  mention  a  bone  comb. 
The  combs  found  in  Swiss  Lake  dwellings  are  of  horn, 
with  the  exception  of  one  fi'om  Locras  of  yew  wood. 

What  chiefly  distinguishes  the  Lagozza  pile  dwelling, 
however,  is  the  absence  of  the  bones,  teeth,  or  horns  of 
animals,  and  also  of  fish-hooks,  harpoons,  or  nets,  so 
that  we  must  conclude  that  the  inhabitants   did  not 

'  Revue  d'Anthropologie,  1887,  p.  607. 


LAKE    STATIONS.  I?! 

hunt  or  fish,  that  they  did  not  breed  domestic  animals, 
and  were  probably  vegetarians.  The  researches  of 
Professor  Sordelli  confirm  this  hypothesis;  from 
amongst  the  objects  taken  from  the  peat  he  recognized 
two  kinds  of  corn  ( Triticwni  vulgare  antiqiionim,  and 
THtieum  vulgare  Idhenium,)^  six-rowed  barley  ( Jlor- 
ileum  liexasticlium,),  mosses,  ferns,  flax,  the  Indian 
poppy  (Papaver  somniferurn),  acorns,  and  an  immense 
nund)er  of  nuts  and  apples. 

The  acorns  ai-e  those  of  the  common  oak,  and  their 
cnps  and  outer  I'ind  had  been  removed,  so  that  they 
had  evidently  been  prepared  to  serve  as  food  for  man; 
the  apples  wei'e  small  and  eoi'iaceous,  resembling  the 
modej'n  crab-apple;  the  Indian  poppy  cannot  have 
grown  without  cultivation;  but  this  was  perhaps  but 
an  example  of  the  same  species  already  recognized  in 
the  Lake  dwellings  of  Switzerland.  It  is  difficult  to 
say  whether  it  was  used  for  food  or  whether  oil  was 
extracted  from  it. 

AVe  have  already  spoken  of  the  discoveries  made  in 
Austria  and  Hungary.  Count  Wurmbrand  has  de- 
scribed the  difficulties  ^vith  which  exph)rers  had  to 
contend.  The  lakes  have  in  many  cases  l>ecome  inac- 
cessible swamps,  and  in  others,  the  waters  having  l)een 
artificially  dammed  to  regulate  their  overflow,  the  sites 
of  the  pile  dwellings  are  so  far  below  the  level  of  the 
lakes  that  any  excavations  are  impossible.  Long  and 
arduous  researches  have,  however,  l)een  rewarded  with 
some  success,  and  the  numerous  objects  recovered  bear 
witness,  as  in  S^vitzerlaud,  to  the  gradual  progress 
made  by  the  successive  generations  who  occupied  these 
pile  dwellings. 

A  lake  near  Laybach  had  been  converted  in  drying 


152 


PREIirS  TORIC  PRO  PL  F.S. 


lip  into  an  immense  })eat-l)<)g,  nearly  tliirty-eiglit  miles 
in  circumference,  Ixjunded  on  the  right  and  left  by 
lofty  mountains.^  AVlien  this  })og  was  iiiidei'  water 
it  had  Ijeen  the  site  of  several  Lake  Stations.  One, 
for  instance,  has  been  made  out  over  thiee  hundred 
and  twenty  yards  from  the  bank.     The  piles,  which 


Fig.  50. — Objects  discovered  in  the  peat-bogs  of  Laybach.  A.  Earthenware 
vase.  B.  Fragment  of  ornamented  pottery.  C.  Bone  needle.  D.  Earthen^ 
ware  weight  for  fishing-net.     E.   Fragment  of  jawbone. 


consisted  of  the  trunks  of  oaks,  beeches,  and  poplars, 
varying  fi-om  eight  to  ten  inches  in  diameter,  w^ere 
placed  at  regular  intervals.  The  objects  taken  from 
the  peat-bog  are  simply  innumerable  (Fig.  50),  and  in- 

'  G.  Cotteau;  Xatiirc',  1S77,  first  week,  j).  161. 


I.AKR    STATIONS. 


153 


elude  hundreds  of  needles  of  different  sizes,  stilettos, 
dagger-blades,  arrows,  and  hatchets,  with  stag-horn 
handles.  Coarse  black  eai'thenware  vases  are  equally 
numerous  and  ai-e  of  a  great  variety  of  form,  but  their 
ornamentation  is  of  the  most  primitive  desciiption,  and 
was  done  sometimes  with  the  nail  of  the  potter,  and 
sometimes  with  a  pointed  bone.  Little  earthenware 
figures  (Figs.  51  and  52)  were  also  found,  some  of 
which   were   sent  from  the    Laybach  Museum  to  the 


Fig.  51. — Small  terra-cotta  figures,  found  in  the  Laybach  pile  dwellings. 

French  Exhibition  of  1878.  One  of  them  is  said  to 
represent  a  woman,  probably  an  idol.  This  is  one  of 
the  fii'st  known  examples  of  the  representation  of  the 
human  figure  from  a  Lake  dwelling.  At  ISTimlau,  near 
Olmutz,  the  drying  up  of  a  little  lake  brought  to  light 
a  Lake  Station  sui'rounded  by  the  trunks  of  oak  trees 
of  a  large  size.  They  were  piled  up,  one  above  the 
other,  and  strongly  bound  together  with  osiers.  These 
trunks  were  evidently  intended  to  fortify  the  station. 

The  mode  of  construction  of  the  Lake  Stations 
of  the  marshes  of  Pomei"ania  is  very  different  from  that 
employed  in  Switzerland  or  in  Austria.  The  founda- 
tions rest  on  horizontal  beams,  kept  in  place  either  by 
great  blocks  of  rock  or  by  piles  driven  in  vertically. 
Li  many  cases  notches  had  evidently  been  made,  the 
better   to    place    the    cross-beams ;    whilst    in    others 


154 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


forked  branches  had  been  selected,  s(^  that  a  second 
branch  could  be  fitted  into  the  fork.  Primeval  man 
soon  learnt  to  aj^preciate  the  solidity  of  such  a  comlii- 
nation.  Do  these  stations,  however,  really  date  fi-oin 
j)rehistoi-ic  times  ?  Yirchow,  returning  to  his  first 
o^^inion,  now  thinks  that  the  pile  dwellings  of  G(^r- 
many  l)elong  to  the  same  epoch  as  the  intrenchments 
kno^vn  as  Jjurgioallen,  when  metals  and  even  ii'on 
were  already  in  general  use.  The}'  were  inhabited 
until  the  thirteenth  centuiy,  and  it  is  easy  to  trace  in 
them,  as  in  those  of  Switzerland,  the  signs  of  the  suc- 
cessive occupations,  the  dwellings  having  evidently 
been  abandoned  and  restored  later  by  fresh  comers. 


Vie.  52. — Small  terra-cotia  figures,  from  tlie  I.aybach  ])ile  dwellings. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  British  Association  at  New- 
castle in  186.'5,  Loi-d  Lovaine  described  a  Lake  Station 
in  tlie  south  of  Scotland,  and  Sir  J.  Lubbock  mentions 
one  in  tlie  noitli  of  Enirhiiid.  Othei-s  aie  known  at 
lloldcrness  (Yorkshire),  at  Thetford,  on   liaiton  Mere, 


LAKE   STATIONS.  155 

near  Bury  St.  Edmunds;  but  judging  from  the  de- 
scription of  them  tliey  are  not  of  earlier  date  than  the 
Bronze  age. 

Other  stations  are  more  ancient.  A  few  years  ago  a 
numbei'  of  piles  were  found  a  little  above  Kew,  be- 
neath a  layer  of  alluvium,  and  embedded  in  the  gravel 
which  formed  the  ancient  bed  of  the  Thames.  All 
around  these  piles  were  scattered  the  bones  of  animals, 
of  which  those  of  the  Bos  longifrons  Avere  the  most 
remarkable.  The  long  bones  had  been  split  to  get  out 
the  marrow,  an  evident  proof  of  the  intelligent  action 
of  man.  In  London  two  similar  examples  Avei'e  found 
on  the  site  of  the  present  Mansion  House,  and  l)eneath 
the  ancient  walls  of  the  city.  They  are  supposed  to 
date  from  times  earlier,  not  only  than  the  cutting  out 
of  the  present  course  of  the  Thames,  but  before  that 
invasion  of  the  sea  which  preceded  the  formation  of 
the  Thames  valley,  now  the  home  of  more  than  four 
million  men  and  women. 

The  Lake  Stations  of  France  are  less  important 
than  those  of  the  neighboring  countries.  It  is  sup- 
posed that  Vatan,  a  little  town  of  Berry,  was  built  on 
the  site  of  a  Lake  city.  It  is  situated  in  the  midst  of 
a  dried-up  marsh,  and  at  different  points  piles  have 
been  removed  which  were  driven  deep  into  the  mud. 
We  also  hear  of  pile  dwellings  in  the  Jura  Mountains, 
in  the  Pyrenean  valleys  of  Haute-Garonne,  Ariege, 
and  Aude,  as  well  as  in  those  of  the  Eastern  Pyrenees. 
In  the  department  of  Landes,  which  on  one  side  joins 
the  plateau  of  Lannemezan,  and  on  the  other  the  lofty 
plains  of  Beam,  are  many  mai'shy  depressions,  where 
have  been  found  numbers  of  piles,  with  charred  wood 
and  fi'agments  of  potteiy. 


156  PREIIISTORJC  P/iOPLES. 

Discoveries  no  less  curious  licave  been  made  in  tlie 
Bourget  Lake,  but  the  dwellings  rising  from  its  sur- 
face date  from  a  comparatively  recent  epoch.  The 
numerous  fragments  of  pottery  found  prove  that  teri'a- 
cotta  ware  had  attained  to  a  beauty  of  foi-ni  and  color 
unknown  to  primitive  times.  Indeed  some  of  the 
vases  actually  bear  the  name  of  the  Romau  potter  who 
made  them.  We  must  als(j  assign  to  an  epoch  later 
than  the  Stone  age  the  buildings,  remains  of  which 
have  been  found  in  the  peat-bogs  of  Saint-Dos  near 
Salies  (Basses-Pyrenees).  At  a  depth  of  about  thirty- 
two  inches  has  been  found  a  regular  ilooi-  formed  of 
trunks  of  trees  resting  on  piles  and  bound  together  in 
a  primitive  fashion  with  the  filaments  of  roots.  These 
piles  bear  a  number  of  deep  clean-cut  notches,  such  as 
could  only  have  been  made  with  an  iron  implement, 
in  other  parts  of  France  there  are  Lake  Stations, 
which  were  occuj)ied  until  the  time  of  the  Carlovin- 
gians.  To  this  time  belong  the  pile  d\^•ellings  of  Lake 
Paladru  (Isere),  which  were  abandoned,  so  far  as  we 
can  tell,  by  their  owners  when  they  were  swamped  by 
the  rising  of  the  water. 

When  the  Lake  Stations  of  Europe  were  inhabited, 
the  characteristic  animals  of  the  Quaternaiy  e[)och, 
sucli  as  the  elephant,  the  i-hiuoceros,  the  lion,  and  the 
hippopotamus  had  disappeared  from  that  continent, 
and  their  place  ^^as  taken  by  the  earliest  domestic 
animals.  The  Lake  fauna  of  SAvitzerland  includes 
a])out  sevent}^  species,  thirty  mammals,  twenty-six 
birds,  ten  kinds  of  fish,  and  four  ivptih's.'  The  mam- 
mals were  the  stag,  the  dog,  lli»'  pig,  the  goat,  the 
sheep,   and    t\vo   kinds   of  oxni.     Tlu^st'   animals  were 

'  Rutimeyer  :  "  Fauna  der  Pfahlbauten  in  der  Schweiz." 


lAK'R    STATIONS.  I  57 

already  domesticated  ;  tliei'e  can  1)6  absolutely  no 
d()iil)t  oil  this  ])oiiit,  for  in  many  Pfaldhauten  their 
very  dung  has  been  found,  a  conclusive  proof  that 
they  lived  side  by  side  with  man. 

The  remains  of  the  stag  and  of  the  ox  are  more 
numerous  than  those  of  any  other  animal,  and  it  is  easy 
to  see  that  every  day  the  importance  of  a  pastoral  life 
became  more  clearly  I'ecognized.  In  the  most  ancient 
Lake  Stations,  those  of  Mooseedoi'f,  Waugen,  and 
Meileii,  for  instance,  the  stag  predominates  ;  in  those  of 
the  western  lakes,  which  are  comparatively  more  recent, 
relics  of  the  ox  are  more  numerous.  In  the  Lake  village 
of  ISFidau,  which  dates  from  the  Bronze  age,  a  greatly 
increased  number  of  bones  of  domestic  animals  have 
been  found,  whilst  those  of  wild  creatures  become 
i-arer  and  rarer.  The  progress  of  domestication  is  evi- 
dent, and  it  is  no  less  certain  that  the  lapse  of  centuries 
must  have  been  required  for  the  formation  of  the  herds 
which  evidently  existed  in  certain  localities.  It  is 
possil)le  that  these  animals  may  have  first  entei'ed 
Europe  in  the  wake  of  foreign  invaders,  and  before 
being  reduced  to  servitude,  they  may  have  I'oamed 
about  in  a  wild  state,  and  even  have  been  contempora- 
ries with  species  now  extinct.  Howevei'  that  may  be, 
tliei'e  can  be  no  doubt  on  one  point,  they  could  not 
domesticate  themselves ;  one  race  of  creatures  after 
another  must  have  fallen  under  the  subjection  of  man, 
who  gradually  became  the  master  of  all  the  animals 
that  are  still  about  us. 

We  do  not  meet  in  the  ])ile  dwellings  ^\■ith  the  com- 
mon mouse,  tlie  I'at,  or  the  cat,  and  the  hoi-se  is  very 
rare.  It  is  the  same  with  the  kitchen-middings  aiad  the 
caves  occupied  in  Neolithic  times.     The  disappearance 


158  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

of  the  horse,  so  numerous  in  earlier  epochs,  is  general, 
and  this  would  be  inexplicable  if  history  did  not  solve 
the  mystery.  Tlie  Bible,  which  gives  us  such  complete 
details  of  the  pastoral  life  of  the  Hebrews,  speaks  for 
the  first  time  of  the  horse  after  the  exodus  from  Egypt 
of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  in  Egypt  itself  the  horse 
is  not  represented  in  any  monument  of  earlier  date  than 
the  Seventeenth  Dynasty.  It  is  the  same  in  America, 
animals  of  the  ecpiine  race,  that  were  so  numerous  in 
early  geological  times,  had  long  since  disap[)eared  on 
the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards,  and  the  horses  they  brought 
with  them  inspired  the  Mexicans  and  Peruvians  with 
unutteralde  terror. 

Domestic  animals  require  regular  food  through  the 
long  winter  months;  so  that  their  presence  alone  is 
enough  to  prove  that  their  owners  wei'e  tillers  of  the 
soil.  The  discovery  in  many  of  the  Helvetian  Lake 
Stations  of  calcined  cereals  confirms  this  hypothesis. 
Amongst  the  cereals  found,  corn  is  the  most  abundant, 
and  several  bushels  of  it  have  l^een  collected.  In  the 
department  of  the  Gironde,  regular  silos  or  sul)terra- 
nean  storing-places  for  grain  have  been  found  in  \\  liicli 
the  calcined  corn  was  stowed  away.  In  the  Lake  Sta- 
tions have  also  been  found  millet,  peas,  poppy-heads, 
nuts,  plums,  raspberries,  and  even  dried  apples  and 
pears,  doul)tless  set  aside  as  a  provision  for  the  winter. 
From  the  water  at  Cortaillod,  have  l)eeii  taken,  with  a 
few  ears  of  barley,  cherry-stones,  acorns,  and  l)eech- 
niits';  and  at  Laybach,  some  water-chestnuts  (trapa 
natan.s)  of  a  kind  that  has  long  since  disappeared  from 
Carniola.  Sometimes  the  cereals  were  roughly  roasted, 
crushed,  and  put  away  in  large  earthenware  vessels  ; 

^  Anzeiger  fiir  Sr/mvizt-risc/ic-  A //rrf/i/iiiis  k'lhulr,  April,   1S84. 


TEKREMARES.  I  ^Q 

but  in  some  places,  regular  flat  round  loaves  of  bread 
have  been  found  about  one  or  two  inches  thick,  which 
were  baked  without  leaven.  We  may  well  assert 
that  great  changes  had  taken  place  since  the  first  arrival 
of  man  upon  the  earth. 

The  so-called  tei'remares  of  Italy  date  from  the 
same  period  as  the  Danish  kitchen-middings  and  the 
Swiss  pile  dwellings.  They  are  met  with  chiefly  in 
Lombardy  and  in  the  ancient  duchies  of  Parma  and 
Piacenza,  and  consist  of  low  mounds  rising  from  thirteen 
to  sixteen  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  soil.  In  some 
cases  a  number  of  terremares,  close  to  one  another,  form 
resfular  villao^es  coverins;  an  area  of  from  five  to  six  miles 
square.  Excavations  of  the  tei'vemare  have  brought 
to  light  rows  of  piles  from  seven  to  ten  feet  long, 
connected  by  transverse  beams,  forming  a  regular  floor, 
from  which  rose  huts  built  in  a  similar  way  to  those 
of  the  Swiss  pile  dwellings,  of  interlaced  branches  or 
of  clay  and  stra^v,  for  no  trace  lias  Ijeen  made  out  of 
the  use  of  bricks  or  of  stones.  The  refuse  of  the 
kitchen  and  rubbish  of  all  kinds  rapidly  accumulated 
round  about  these  huts,  and  formed  the  first  nucleus  of 
the  mound,  w^hicli  soon  grew  to  a  considerable  height 
as  one  occupant  of  the  house  succeeded  another.  When 
the  I'efuse  became  too  much  of  a  nuisance,  the  owner  of 
the  hut  set  up  fresh  piles  at  a  greater  height  on  the 
same  site,  laid  down  another  platform,  and  built  a  new 
hut.  In  some  places  three  such  platforms  have  been 
found  one  above  another. 

As  in  the  Lake  Stations,  excavations  of  the  terremares 
have  brouorht  to  lio;ht  numerous  bones  of  domestic 
animals ;  but  those  of  wild  creatures,  such  as  bears, 
stags,  roedeer,  and  boars,  are  even  rarer  than  in  Switz- 
erland.    The  inhabitants  evidently  had  other  i-esources 


l6o  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

than  liiinting  at  tlieir  command,  and  though  the  pro- 
cesses they  empk^yed  were  l)ut  elementaiy,  they  culti- 
vated corn,  beans,  vines,  and  various  fruits.  Though 
iron  Avas  still  unknown,  some  bronze  objects  have 
been  found  in  certain  terremares^  but  these  were  only 
roughly  melted  j^ieces  of  metal,  showing  no  traces  of 
havino;  been  either  hammered  or  soldered.  Amonf!i;st 
the  pottery  found  in  the  terreDiares,  \xq  must  mention 
a  number  of  small  objects  not  unlike  acorns  in  form, 
pierced  lengthwise,  and  decorated  with  incised  lines, 
some  straight,  others  curved.  Italian  archaeologists 
call  ihidm.  fnsa'ioles,  and  Swiss  savants,  who  have  found 
a  great  many  in  the  lakes  of  their  native  country,  give 
them  the  name  of  ijemns  defuseau.  Both  these  names 
connect  them  with  the  process  of  spinning;  but  their 
number  renders  this  hypothesis  inadmissible,  and  when 
we  give  an  account  of  the  excavations  carried  on  at 
Hissarlik,  under  Dr.  Schliemann,  we  shall  be  able  to 
determine  their  character  (see  Chapter  VII.). 

At  Castione,  near  the  town  of  Parma,  and  in  sev- 
eral other  parts  of  the  provinces  of  Parma  and  Reggio, 
terremares  have  been  discovered  rising  from  the  midst 
of  vast  rectangular  basins  artificially  hollowed  out. 
Some  have  concluded  from  this  that  the  terreinare- 
colli.,  as  the  inhabitants  of  the  terremares  have  been 
called,  were  descended  from  the  people  who  built  the 
pile  dwellings  of  Switzerland,  and  that,  faithful  to  the 
traditions  of  their  I'ace,  they  hollowed  out  ponds  in 
default  of  natui-al  lakes.  If  this  were  so,  Italy  must 
have  been  peo[)led  with  a  race  that  came  over  the 
Alps.^     Who  or  \vbat  this  race  was  can  only  l)e  matter 

'  Comte  Conestabile  :  "  Sur  les  Anciennes  Immigrations  en  Italic."  Heilbig  : 
"  Beitrage  zur  Altitalischen  Kultur  und  Kund  Geschichte,"  i.  Band.  G.  Bois- 
%\&x  \  Revue  des  Deux-Mondes,  October,  1879. 


TERkEAfAkES.  l6l 

of  conjecture.  It  cannot,  however,  have  been  the 
Ligures,  a  bi'anch  of  the  great  Iberian  family,  who 
were  totally  ignorant  of  culture,  and  to  whom  the 
builders  of  the  most  ancient  of  the  terremares  were 
certainly  superior  ;  nor  can  it  have  been  the  Etruscans, 
for  all  relics  of  that  race,  ^vhich  are  moreover  easily 
recognizable,  w  ere  found  quite  apart  from  the  deep  de- 
posits containing  the  terremares.  Many  indications 
jjoint  to  the  conclusion  that  when  the  Celts  came  down 
into  Italy  their  knowledge  of  metallurgy  was  already 
more  advanced  than  that  of  tlie  builders  of  the  terre- 
mares. We  are  therefore  disposed  to  think  ^vith  Heil- 
big,  that  the  terremarecolli  ^vere  the  Itali,  of  Arian 
race,  who  were  the  ancestors  of  the  Sabini,  Umbri, 
Osci,  and  Latins.  In  the  great  migrations  of  races,  the 
Itali  had  separated  themselves  from  their  brethren  the 
Pelasgi,  who  had  I'emained  in  Epirus,  and,  continuing 
their  march,  they  peopled  Switzerland  and  crossed  the 
Alps,  settling  down  in  the  fertile  plains  watered  by 
the  Po,  where  it  is  easy  even  now  to  prove  their 
presence. 

In  superintending  the  excavation  of  a  terremare  at 
Toszig,  in  Hungary,  Pigorini,^  was  greatly  struck  by 
the  resemblance  between  it  and  similar  erections  in 
Italy,  especially  that  of  Casarolo,  This  is  very  much 
in  favor  of  the  Itali  having  been  the  builders.  But 
the  objects  collected  in  some  of  the  terremares,  those 
of  Varano  and  Chierici  for  instance,  prove  that  they 
were  inhabited  from  Neolithic  times,  so  that  the  Itali 
of  Italy,  if  Itali  they  were,  did  but  follow  the  tradi- 
tions of  their  predecessors.  In  spite,  however,  of 
zealous  study,  all  that  relates  to  the  origin  of  tribes 

'  Bui.  di  Palethnologia  ItaL,  1879.      The  terpens  of  Holland,  though  of  much 
more  modern  date,  greatl)-  resemble  the  terremares. 


1 62  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

and  races  I'emains  involved  in  the  greatest  obscurity, 
and  we  can  but  look  to  the  future  to  supply  what  the 
present  altogethei*  fails  to  give. 

We'  have  yet  other  tokens  of  the  presence  of  the 
ancient  races  who  peopled  Italy.  Dr.  Concezio  Rosa  ^ 
noticed  in  the  Abruzzi  extensive  black  patches  on  the 
ground,  which  bore  witness  to  the  foi-mer  residence  of 
men.  The  excavation  of  these  Fondi  <li  Cahane^  as 
they  are  called,  led  to  the  finding  of  a  great  many  stone 
knives  and  scrapers  with  numerous  bone  stilettos  and 
the  bones  of  various  animals,  all  of  them  of  species 
still  living.  Later,  similar  fondi  were  found  between 
the  Eastern  Alps  and  Mount  Gargano.  In  Reggio,  at 
Rivaltella,  at  Castelnuovo  de  Sotto,  and  at  Calerno,  they 
formed  regular  groups,  and  fn^m  one  of  these  stations 
more  than  one  thousand  worked  flints  were  collected. 
We  mention  them  especially  because  they  vv^ere  of  loz- 
enge (selci  romhoidali )  and  half-lozenge  ( semi-romhi ) 
shapes,  which  are  forms  unknown  in  other  districts. 

With  these  flints  were  hand-made  vases  with  handles, 
the  clay  unmixed  ^vith  sand  or  quartz  and  ornamented 
with  lines,  grooves,  and  raised  knobs.  These  vases 
differ  greatly  from  those  found  in  the  terremares  ;  are 
they  then,  as  has  been  said,  of  earlier  date  ?  It  is  im- 
possible to  come  to  any  decision  on  the  point. 

Before  closing  our  account  of  prehistoric  buildings 
suri'ounded  by  water,  Ave  must  say  a  few  words  on 
crannoges  though  there  is  the  greatest  difference  of 
opinion  as  to  their  date. 

Crannoges  ai'e  artificial  islets  raised  above  the  level 
of  certain  lakes  in  Ireland  and  Scotland^ by  means  of  a 

'  "  Ricerce  di  Archeologia  Preistorica  nella  Valle  della  Vibrata." 
^  Wylie,  Arch.  Brit.,  vol.  xxxviii.     Wylde,  Proc.   Royal  Irish  Acad,,   vol. 
i.,  p.  420. 


CKANNOGES.  1 63 

series  of  layers  of  earth  and  stone,  and  strengthened  by 
piles,  some  ii])rigbt,  others  laid  down  lengthwise. 
Wylde  counted  forty-six  in  Ireland  in  his  time,  some 
of  them  of  considerable  extent.  That  of  Ardkellin 
Lough  (Roscommon)  is  surrounded  by  a  wall  of  dry 
stones  resting  on  piles.  In  other  places  have  l)een 
found  the  remains  of  stockades  very  intelligently  set 
U[)  in  such  a  manner  as  to  break  the  force  of  the  shock 
of  the  water. 

To  add  to  the  difficulties  of  dealing  with  the  subject 
of  crannoges,  they  were  successively  occupied  for  many 
centuries.  They  are  mentioned  in  the  most  ancient 
Irish  legends,  and  even  in  the  sixteenth  ceutuiy  they 
served  as  refuges  for  the  kings  of  the  country  in  the 
constant  re])ellions  that  took  place.  The  objects  taken 
from  the  lakes  belong  to  very  different  epochs,  and  it 
is  impossible  to  say  anything  positive  as  to  the  time 
of  tlieir  construction. 

A  hut  found  in  Donegal  may,  however,  date  from  an 
exti'emely  remote  age.^  It  rested  on  a  thick  layer  of  sand 
broucfht  from  the  neic^hborinfj;  shore,  and  was  covered 
over  by  a  l)ed  of  peat  not  less  than  sixteen  feet  thick. 
Since  the  hut  was  deserted  by  man  the  peat  had  gradu- 
ally accumulated  till  it  had  at  last  invaded  the  dwelling 
itself.  The  hut  included  a  gi'ound-floor,  and  one  story 
about  twelve  feet  long  by  nine  wide  and  four  high. 
The  walls  consisted  of  beams  scarcely  squared,  joined  to- 
gether with  wooden  mortices  and  pegs.  The  roof,  which 
was  probal)ly  flat,  consisted  of  oak  planks,  the  spaces 
between  which  had  been  filled  in  with  mortar  made  of 
sand  and  grease.     On  the  ground-floor  lay  several  flint 

'  Arch.  Brit.,   vol.   xxvi.,   p.    361.      Proc.   Royal  Irish  Acade??ty,  vol.  vii., 
p.  155. 


164  Prehistoric  peoples.^ 

implements,  showing  no  signs  of  having  been  polished, 
a  quartz  wedge,  and  a  stone  chisel,  which  had  evidently 
seen  long  service.  This  chisel,  the  discoverers  say, 
corresponded  exactly  with  the  notches  around  the 
mortices.  A  i-egular  paved  way,  formed  of  sea-beach 
pebbles  placed  on  a  foundation  of  interlaced  branches, 
led  up  to  a  hearth  made  of  flat  stones  measuring  some 
three  feet  every  way.  All  about  lay  fi'agments  of 
charcoal  and  broken  nuts,  the  lattei'  partly  burnt. 
Another  hut,  with  an  oak  floor  resting  on  four  posts, 
has  recently  been  discovered  in  County  Fermanagh, 
beneath  a  deposit  of  peat  about  twenty  feet  thick.  No 
trace  of  metal  has  been  found  in  either  of  these  Irish 
huts,  and  the  thickness  of  the  peat  beneath  which  they 
lay  is  anothei"  proof  of  their  great  antiquity.  One  serious 
objection,  however,  is  this  :  Were  the  Irish  sufficiently 
advanced  in  prehistoric  times  to  be  able  to  erect  dwell- 
ings implying  so  considerable  an  amount  of  civiliza- 
tion ? 

Crannoges  are  met  with  in  Scotland  as  well  as  in 
Ireland,  and  excavations  in  Loch  Lee  have  enabled 
explorers  to  make  out  their  mode  of  construction.  The 
Lake  Dwellers  began  by  piling  u[)  a  number  of  trunks 
of  trees  in  the  shallower  waters  of  a  lake.  They  then 
strengthened  these  trunks  with  branches  or  beams 
about  which  the  mud  collected  till  the  whole  formed 
an  islet.  All  about  this  islet,  beneath  the  waters  of 
the  lake,  were  found  various  objects  in  stone,  wood, 
and  hoi'n,  as  well  as  some  canoes  several  feet  long. 
Similar  crannoges  are  to  be  seen  on  the  lakes  of  Kin- 
cardine and  Foi'far,  which  Troyon  thiid<s  date  from  the 
Stone  a^e.'     If  he  be  riirht,  and  we  should  not  like  to 

'    *  Habitations  Lacustres  des  Temps  Anciens  et  Modernes,"  p.  170. 


BURGHS,    "  XL'RHAGS"    "  TALAYOTI."  165 

make  any  assertion  one  \vay  or  the  other,  the  bronze 
objects  and  the  enamelled  glass  bowls  found  near  these 
dwellings  prove  that  they  wei-e  occupied  by  several 
successive  generations. 

It  is  probable  that  Lake  dwellings  were  also  used  in 
Asia  and  in  Africa  from  prehistoric  times.  History 
tells  us  that  the  inhabitants  of  Phasis,  the  Mingreli- 
ans  of  the  present  day,  lived  in  reed  huts  on  the  water, 
and  that  they  went  from  one  islet  to  another  in 
canoes  hollowed  out  of  the  trunks  of  oak-trees.  A 
bas-relief  from  the  palace  of  Sennacherib,  preserved  in 
the  British  Museum,  represents  warriors  fighting  on 
artificial  islands  made  of  large  reeds.  But  here  we 
enter  the  domain  of  history,  and  we  must  return  to 
Neolithic  times,  and  speak  of  the  habitations  built  of 
more  durable  materials  and  the  ruins  of  which  are  still 
standing. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  with  any  certainty  to  \vhat 
j^eriod  the  most  ancient  of  these  structures  belong.  It 
is  probable  that  man  early  learned  to  pile  up  stones, 
binding  them  together  at  first  ^vith  clay,  and  then  with 
some  stronger  cements.  The  hiwghs  of  Scotland,  the 
nurliags  of  the  island  of  Sardinia,  the  talayoti  of  the 
Balearic  Isles,  the  castelUeri  of  Istria,  are  all  ancient 
witnesses  of  the  modes  of  building  employed  in  the 
most  remote  ages. 

BurghSy  hrochsj  or  broughs  are  numerous  in  Scotland,^ 
and  also  in  the  islands  of  the  Atlantic.  For  a  long 
time  they  wei'e  sup[)Osed  to  be  of  Scandinavian  origin, 
but    Sir   J.    Lubbock-   remarks  ^vith  reason  that   no 


'  R.  Munro  :  "  Ancient  Scottish  T.ake  Dwellings  or  Crannoges,  with  a  Supple- 
mentary Chapter  on  Remains  of  Lake  Dwellings  in  England,"  Edinburgh,  1S82. 
^  "  Prehistoric  Times."     Wilson  ;    "  Prehistoric  Scotland." 


1 66  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

building  at  all  like  them  exists  in  Norway  or  in 
Denmark,  and  it  is  difficult  to  admit  the  idea  tliat  the 
Scandinavians  set  up  in  the  islands  tributary  to  them 
buildings  which  were  unknown  to  their  own  mainland. 
AVe  are  therefore  disposed  to  think  that  these  curious 
structures,  which  were  inhabited  until  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  are  of  nuich 
earliei-  date  than  the  fii'st  invasion  by  the  Northmen, 
and  that  the  buro;h  still  standinoj  on  the  little  island 
of  Moussa,  one  of  the  Shetlands,  is  one  of  the  best 
examples  that  we  can  quote.  A  tower,  forty-one  feet 
hifrh,  rises  on  the  borders  of  the  sea.  The  walls  are  of 
unhewn  stones,  piled  up  without  cement,  and  they 
form  two  circles,  separated  by  a  passage  four  feet  ^\  ide. 
In  each  story  are  a  series  of  very  small  openings, 
intended  to  admit  air  and  light  to  the  cell-like  rooms 
inside,  and  to  a  staircase  that  leads  to  the  top  of  the 
tower.  The  only  way  into  this  burgh  is  through  a  door 
only  seven  feet  high,  and  so  narrow  that  it  is  impossible 
for  two  people  to  go  in  abi'east. 

The  regularity  of  the  building  of  this  burgh,  and 
the  architectural  knowledge  it  implies,  prevent  our 
ascribins:  it  either  to  the  Stone  or  even  to  the  Bronze 
age;  but  we  find  in  Scotland  itself  more  ancient 
examples,  if  we  may  so  express  ourselves,  of  domestic 
architecture.  These  examples  are  subterranean  dwel- 
lings, made  of  rough-hewn  stones  of  considerable  size, 
laid  down  in  regular  courses,  to  which  the  names  of 
eai'th-Jiouses,  Picti  lioases,  and  weems  have  been  given. 
The  walls  convei'ge  towards  the  centre,  leaving  an 
opening  at  the  top,  which  was  covered  in  ^vith  large 
flat  stones.  These  dwellings  are  certainly  of  earlier 
date  than  the  burghs,  and  the  discovery  of  a  Picts' 


BURGHS,    "  NURHAGS,"    "  TALAYOTI."  167 

house  actually  beneath  the  ruins  of  a  burgh  enables  us 
to  speak  with  certainty  on  this  point. 

In  Ireland  similar  proofs  have  been  found  of  the 
great  antiquity  of  man.  More  than  one  hundred 
towers  have  been  found  in  that  country,  all  built  of 
large  stones,  and  varying  in  height  from  seventy  to 
one  hundred  and  thirty  feet,  with  a  diameter  of  from 
eight  to  fifteen  feet.  The  most  diverse  origins  have 
been  attributed  to  these  towers,  from  prehistoric  times 
to  the  centuries  immediately  preceding  the  Christian 
era ;  from  the  time  of  the  Druids  to  that  of  the  Friars. 
Accoi-ding  to  the  point  of  view  of  different  archae- 
ologists, they  have  been  called  temples  of  the  sun, 
hermitages,   phallic   monuments,   or    signal    towers. 

We  meet  with  a  similar  problem  in  considering  the 
niu'hags,  as  in  considering  the  burghs.  They  have  been 
justly  called  a  page  of  history,  written  all  over  the  sur- 
face of  Sardinia  by  an  unknown  people.  Count  Albert 
de  la  Marmora  counted  three  thousand  of  them  a  few 
years  ago,  and  more  recent  explorers  tell  lis  that  this 
number  is  greatly  exceeded.  Like  the  burghs,  which 
they  strangely  resemble,  the  nurhags  are  conical  towers 
with  veiy  thick  walls  made  of  huge  stones,  some  hewn, 
others  in  their  natural  state,  arranged  in  regular  courses 
without  mortar.  On  entering  one  of  them  we  find 
ourselves  in  a  vaulted  room,  which  looks  exactly  like 
one  half  of  an  egg  in  shape.  In  the  upper  stories  are 
two,  and  sometimes  three  rooms,  one  above  the  other, 
to  which  access  is  gained  by  steps  cut  in  the  walls. 
The  whole  structure  is  crowned  by  a  terrace  (Fig.  53). 
We  must  add  that  the  entrance  to  the  nurliag  is  through 
an  opening  on  a  level  with  the  ground,  and  so  low  that 
one  can  only  go  in  by  crawling  on  the  stomach. 


1 68 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


Many  conjectures  have  been  made  as  to  the  use  of 
these  towers.  Were  they  temples  in  which  to  worship, 
or  trophies  of  victory  ?  Their  number  is  against  either 
of  these  hypotheses.  Were  they  then  habitations  oi' 
towers  of  observation  %  Not  the  former  certainly,  for 
no  one  could  live  between  avails  sixteen  or  twenty-two 
feet  thick,  shut  out  from  air  and  light.  Some  travellers 
think  they  were  tond)s,  but  excavations  have  brought 
to  light  no  bones  or  sepulchral  relics.     We  can  com- 


F"'-  53- — Nurhag  at  Santa  Barbara  (Sardinia). 

pare  them  to  nothing  but  the  Towers  of  Silence,  on 
which  the  Parsees  expose  their  dead  to  the  birds  of 
heaven,  which  are  ever  ready  rapidly  to  acquit  them- 
selves of  their  melancholy  functions. 

Tlie  origin  of  tlie  nurliags  is  as  uncertain  as  their 
use.  Diodoi'us  kSiculus  considei'ed  them  very  ancient, 
and  one  fact  has  come  to  light  in  our  day  wdiich 
enables  us  to  arrive  at  a  somewhat  more  exact  de- 
cision. The  island  of  Sardinia  was  taken  by  the 
Romans  from  the    Carthaginians   in    288   B.C.,  and  an 


BURGHS,    "  NURNAGS,"    "  TALAYOT/."  169 

aqueduct,  the  ruins  of  which  can  still  l^e  seen,  was 
built  by  the  concjuerors  on  the  fouudations  of  an 
ancient  iturha'j,  so  that  the  latter  must  ])elong  to  an 
earlier  date  than  the  tliii-d  century  before  our  era. 
Fergnsson,  ^vho  speaks  with  authority  on  everything 
relating  to  the  monuments  of  the  Stone  age,  assigns 
the  mii'liags  to  the  mystic  times  of  the  Trojan  War. 
In  all  probability  they  were  built  l)y  an  invading 
people.  J^a  Marmora  thinks  these  invaders  were  the 
Lil)yans;  M.  de  Rougeniont,  in  his  history  of  the 
Bronze  age,  says  that  the  curved  vault  is  the  char- 
acteristic feature  of  Pelasgian  architecture,  which  is 
often  confounded  Avith  that  of  the  Phoenicians.  Al- 
though any  final  conclusion  would  be  premature,  we 
ourselves  think  that  the  l)uilders  of  the  iiurhags 
belonged  to  the  great  stream  of  emigration  fi"om  the 
East,  the  course  of  which  is  marked  by  megalithic 
monuments  in  so  many  parts  of  the  world.  In  some 
instances,  nwliags  were  suri'ounded  by  cromlechs,  of 
which  most  of  the  stones  have  now  been  thrown  down. 
Some  of  these  stones  bore  prominences  resembling  tlie 
breasts  of  a  woman. 

The  accunudations  of  earth  and  rubbish  about  the 
inii'luKjH  are,  some  of  them,  fi'om  six  to  ten  feet  high. 
In  the  h)vver  deposits  have  been  found  coarse  pottery, 
with  no  attem[)t  at  ornamentation,  fragments  of  flint, 
and  obsidian  hatchets  of  black  basalt,  or  porphyry  of  the 
PaL-eolithic  type,  arrow-heads,  flint  knives,  stones  used 
in  slings,  and  numerous  shells  ;  whilst  in  the  upper 
deposits  were  picked  up  l)lack  pottery  and  fragments 
of  bronze  belonging  to  the  transition  period  between 
the  Stone  and  Metal  ages. 

All  over  the  island   of  Sardinia,  side  by  side  with 


I/O 


FREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


tlie  7iurl)a(jH^  rise  tombs  to  which  luive  been  given  the 
name  of  SepoIt((re  del  Ghjanti.  They  are  from  thirty-two 
to  thirty-nine  feet  h)ng  by  a  nearly  e(j[iial  Avidth,  and  are 
built,  some  of  huge  slabs  of  stone,  some  of  stones  of 
smaller  size.  They  are  in  every  case  surmounted  by  a 
pediment,  formed  of  a  single  block,  and  often  covered 
with  scul})tures  dating  from  different  epochs.  These 
sepulchres  are  certainly  of  later  date  than  the  ivurTiags^ 
and  in  them  have  been  found  numerous  implements  of 
bronze,  but  none  of  stone. 


Fig.  54. — "  Talayoli  "  at  Trepuco  (Minorca). 

The  taldtjotl,  of  which  one  hiuidred  and  fifty  are  still 
standing  in  the  island  of  Minoi-ca,  are  circular  or  ellip- 
tical truncated  cones,  built  of  huge  unhewn  sfones,  laid 
one  oil  the  other  Avithout  cement  (Fig.  54).  The  most 
remarkable  (»f  all  of  them,  that  at  Torello,  near  Mahon, 
is  thirty-three  feet  high.  Tii  many  cases  there  are  tAVo 
stones,  one  placed  upright,  the  other  across  it,  in  front 
of  the  tcdayoti.  The  meaning  of  these  biliths  is  un- 
known. 

Yet  another  series  of  cyclopean  monuments  are 
known  under  the  name  of  jianet((.%  and  are  not  unlike 


KrKCJfS,    "  Nl'KHAGS"    "   T.ir.A  V077."  I/I 

overtunied  l)oats.  Seven  such  ikiikUis  mv.  still  to  l>e 
seen  in  the  Balearic  Isles.  The  one  ^vllich  is  best  pre- 
served consists  of  large  unhewn  stones  of  rectangular 
shape,  enclosing  an  inner  ehambei'  about  six  feet  in 
width.  The  roof  having  fallen  in,  its  height  cannot 
be  exactly  determined  ;  we  only  ku()N\'  that  the  lateral 
walls  are  some  forty-five  feet  hi<j::h. 

In  Algeria  also  have  been  preserved  some  towers 
built  of  stones  without  cement.  Some  of  them  are 
S(piare  (hasina)  and  surmounted  l)y  a  small  dolmen, 
others  are  round  (chouchet)  and  closed  at  the  top  by  a 
large  slab  of  stone,  as  in  the  nui'liags  ^ve  have  just 
desciibed. 

It  is  difficult  to  bring  this  account  to  a  close  without 
mentioning  the  tniddlii  and  the  Rpeccliie  of  Otranto.' 
A  truddliu  is  a  massive^  conical  tower  consisting  of  a 
heap  of  scarcely  hewn  stones  piled  up  mthout  cement 
and  with  an  exterior  facing.  Inside  is  a  round  ]-oom, 
the  roof  of  which  is  formed  by  a  series  of  circular 
courses  of  stone  projecting  one  beyond  the  other. 
Sometimes  a  second  chamber  rises  above  tlie  first, 
which  is  reached  by  steps  cut  in  the  facing,  \\hich 
steps  also  lead  to  the  platform  on  the  top  of  the  tower. 
Thousands  of  truddlil  are  to  be  seen  in  Italy  ;  they  date 
from  every  epoch,  and  the  people  of  Lecce  and  Bari 
continue  to  erect  them  as  did  their  fathers  before  them. 
Side  by  side  with  the  truddltl  rise  the  speccliie.,  which 
are  conical  masses  of  stone,  of  greater  height  and  prob- 
ably of  more  ancient  date  than  the  towers.  Lenormant 
thinks   they  wei-e  used  to  live  in  ;  but  his  opinion  has 

'  Nicolucci  :  "  Scelse  Lavorate,  Bronzi  e  Moniimenti  di  Terra  d'Otranto." 
I.enormant,  Kcviic  iV Ethnographic,  February,  1SS2  [Bui.  Soc,  Anth.,  1882  and 
1S84).     S.  Reinach  :   "  Esquises  Archeologiques." 


1/2  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

been  much  questioned,  and  it  is  necessary  to  speak  on 
this  point  with  great  I'eserve. 

The  castelUeri  of  Istria,  Avhich  the  Slavonian  j)eas- 
ants  call  starigi'od,  are  as  yet  but  little  known.  Doubt- 
less an  examination  of  them  will  brins;  out  their 
resemblance  to  the  nurhags  and  talayoti.  They  are, 
however,  more  than  mere  to^vers,  forming  regular  en- 
ceintes between  walls  formed  of  two  facings  of  dry 
stones,  the  space  between  which  is  filled  in  with  smaller 
stones.  There  are  fifteen  of  these  castellierl  in  the  dis- 
ti-ict  of  Albona,  a  little  town  on  the  southeast  of  Ti-ieste. 
They  were  at  first  attributed  to  the  Roman  epoch,  but 
later  researches  relegate  them  I'ather  to  pi-ehistonc 
times,  and  the  discovery  near  them  of  numerous  stone 
implements  rather  tends  to  support  this  latter  opinion, 
but  it  nuist  not  be  considered  conclusive. 

Perhaps  we  ought  also  to  connect  with  the  earliest 
ages  of  humanity  the  stations  recently  discovered  in 
Spain  by  MM.  Siret.'  These  were  evidently  centres 
of  2)o[»ulation,  suri'ounded  by  walls  of  a  very  primitive 
description.  We  shall  have  to  refer  again  to  these  dis- 
coveries ;  we  will  only  add  now  that  m  the  black  earth 
forming  the  soil  were  found  worked  fiints,  jmlished 
diorite  hatchets,  pierced  shells,  with  various  j)ieces  of 
[)ottery,  and  mills  for  grinding  corn.  So  far,  however 
though  many  of  the  stations  luue  been  explored,  no 
tracts  has  been  found  of  the  use  of  metals. 

A  vast  [)eriod  of  time,  countless  centuries,  indeed, 
have  2>fi>^f^<*d  away  since  the  close  of  the  Paheolithic 
epoch.  The  ))urglis,  niirhfti/s,  and  casfellierl  show  the 
progress  of  civilization,  and  at  (Ik;  saiix^  time  prove  that 
this  progress  extended  throughout  Kurojx',  and  that  at 

'  "  Les  Premiers  Ages  dii  Metal  dans  le  Siul-l'"-st  dc  I'lCspagne,"  Brussels,  1887. 


CASTIJ.I.lERr.  173 

a  time  not  so  veiy  fur  I'cinov  ed  from  oui-  own.  Tlie 
close  resemblance  ))et\veen  buildings  of  diffei-ent  dates 
enables  us  to  speak  witli  (-(M'tainty  of  tlie  connection 
between  the  i-aces  wliidi  succeeded  e.-icli  other  in 
Enro[)e.  The  iuipoi-tauce  of  tliese  conclusions  is  very 
great,  and  will  ]>e  bi'ought  out  still  more  \\\  oui'stu<lyof 
mcij^alithic  jiionuments. 


CHAPTER  V. 


MEGALITHIC    MONUMENTS. 


Megalithic  monuments  are  perhaps  the  most  inter- 
esting of  all  the  witnesses  ot  the  remote  past,  into  the 
history  of  which  we  are  now  inquiring,  and  of  which 
so  little  is  known.  From  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Ural  Mountains,  from  the  frontiers  of  Russia  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  from  the  steppes  of  Siberia  to  the  plains 
of  Hindustan,  we  see  rising  before  us  monuments  of 
the  same  characteristic  foi'm,  l^uilt  in  the  same  manner. 
This  is  a  very  important  fact  in  the  history  of  hu- 
manity, and  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  exaggerate  the 
importance. 

AVhat  is  the  age  of  all  these  monuments  ?  Were 
they  all  erected  by  one  race,  which  has  thus  carried  on 
its  traditions  from  one  generation  to  another  ?  Were 
they  the  temples  of  the  gods  of  this  race,  or  the  tombs 
of  their  ancestors  ?  Did  the  people  who  set  them  up 
come  fi'om  the  East,  or  did  tbey  come  from  the  North, 
on  their  way  to  the  warmer  regions  of  the  South  ? 
These  and  many  other  (piestions  are  eagerly  discussed, 
but  in  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge  not  one  of 
them  can  be  answered  in  a  pei'fectly  satisfactory  man- 
ner. fSc'i?'e  ignorare  'magna  scientia,,  said  an  ancient 
]^)hilosopher,  and  this  is  a  truth  \vhich  we  must  often 
repeat  when  we  are  dealing  with  prehistoric  times. 

174 


MEGA  LirillC    MONUMEN  TS. 


175 


Under  the  name  of  megalithic  monuments  we  include 
tumnlij  dolmens,  cromleclis,  menhirs,  and  covered  avenues. 
It  niay  at  first  sight  appear  strange  to  include  tumuli 
amongst  stone  monuments,  but  they  almost  always  en- 
close a  dolmen,  a  cist,  or  a  crypt  communicating  w4th 
the  outside  l)y  a  covered  passage.  The  excavation  of 
more  than  four  hundred  tumuli  in  England  has  brought 
to  light  now  a  stone  coffer  made  of  a  number  of  stones 
set  edgeways  and  called  a  Mstvaen  :  now  of  a  tomb 


Fig.  55. — Dolmen  of  Castle  Wellaii  (Ireland). 


hollowed  out  Ijeneath  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and 
enclosed  by  huge  l)locks  of  stone/  Mounds  are  as 
niunerous  in  Portugal  as  tumuli  in  England,  and  the 
fact  that  they  are  of  low  height  has  led  to  their  being 
called  mamoas  or  maminlias,  Avhich  signifies  little 
mounds.  In  Poland,  tumuli  consist  of  piles  of  massive 
stones  ;  beneath  each  is  a  cist  made  of  foui'  large  slabs, 
and  containing  as  many  as  eight  or  ten  urns  full  of 

'  Eateman  :    "  Ten  Vears'  Diggings,"  Preface,  p.  11. 


176 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


calcined  bones.  The  excavation  of  a  tumnlus  in  the 
plain  of  Tarbes  bronght  to  light  an  enormons  block  of 
granite  resting  on  blocks  of  quartz.  The  spaces  between 
these  blocks  were  filled  in  with  rubble  made  of  small 
stones  cemented  into  one  mass  with  clay,  Edwin- 
Harness  Mound,  near  Liberty  ((^hio),  is  IfiO  feet 
long  by  eighty  or  ninety  ^vide,  and  tliirteen  to  eighteen 


Fig.  56. — The  large  dolmen  of  Coreoro,  near  Plouharnel. 


higli   in   the   middle.     It  contained  a  dozen  sepulchral 
chambers. 

More  rarely  tumuli  ar(^  mei'cly  artificial  mounds  of 
earth,  sometimes  I'ising  to  a  gi'cat  height.  Tliose  of 
North  America  are  the  most  remaikable  know  11.  That 
of  Cahokia  is  now  ninety-one  feet  high/  and  \\as  for- 


'  W.  MacAdams 

polls,  1883. 


"  The  Great  Mound  of  Cahokia."     Am.  Ass.,  Minnea- 


MF.GALITHIC  MONUMENTS. 


m 


merly  siirmonnted  liy  tx  low  pyramid,  now  destroyed. 
Its  base  measures  5()0  feet  ])y  720,  the  platform  at  the 
top  is  146  feet  by  810  feet  wide,  and  it  has  been  esti- 
mated that  twenty-five  million  cubic  feet  of  eai'th  were 
used  in  its  consti'uetion.  Major  TVarse  mentions  a 
tumulus  near  Nag[)ore,  which  is  8,1)00  feet  in  cii'cumfei'- 
ence,  and  174  feet  high.  Another  between  Tyre  and 
Sarepta,  is  130  feet  high  by  650  in  diameter.  It  has 
never  been  excavated.* 


Fic.  57.  —  Dolmen  of  Arrayolos  (Portugal). 


The  dolmen  type  of  monument  is  a  rectangle  of  un- 
hewn upright  stones  covered  over  with  a  slab  laid  across 
them  ;  this  slab  being  the  largest  block  of  stone  that 
could  be  found  in  the  neighborhood  or  obtained  by  the 
l)uildei's. 

Dolmens  are  generall}'  found  either  on  the  top  of  a 
natural  or  an  artificial  mound,  in  the  middle  of  a  plain, 
or  on  the  banks  of  a  watercourse.  We  must  mention, 
amongst  others,  those  in  Persia,  which  are  some  7,000 

'  PelasTaud  •    "  Prehistnire  en  Syria." 


178 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


feet  liigli  and  froni  twenty-one  to  twenty-six  feet  long 
by  six  wide ;  that  near  Mykenae,  that  of  Aumede-Bas, 
excavated  by  Dr.  Pi'uniei'es  ;.that  of  New  Grange,  in 
Ireland,  surmounted  by  a  cromlech  of  stones  of  consid- 
erable size,  many  of  them  brought  from  a  distance  ;  that 
of  Ilellstone,  near  Dorchester,  consisting  of  nine  upright 
stones  supporting  a  table  more  than  twenty-seven  and 
a  half  ft^et  in  circumference,  seven  feet  wide  and  two 
and  a  half  tliick.  The  dolmens  near  Saturnia,  one  of  the 
most  ancient  Etruscan  towns,  include  a  quadrangular 
room,  sunk  some  feet  into  the  earth,  and  having  walls 


P'iG.  58. — Megalithic  sepulchre  at  Acora  (Peru). 

made  of  Idocks  of  stone  and  a  roof  of  a  cou[)le  of  large 
slabs,  sloped  slightly  to  let  the  rain  yww  off.  We  give 
illustrations  of  the  dolmens  of  Castle  Wellan  in  Ii'eland 
(Fig.  55),  of  Coreoi'o  near  Plouharnel  (Morl)ihan)  (Fig. 
50),  of  Ai-rayolos  in  Portugal  (Fig.  57),  and  Acoi'a  in 
Peru  (Fig.  58),  which  will  enable  the  readei*  to  judge 
of  the  different  modes  of  construction  employed  in 
buildinc:  these  meu^alithic  monuments. 

Tn  some  cases  the  dolmen,  which  alone  is  visible  from 
without,  is   placed    upon   m   mound,  covei'ing  a  hidden 


MEGALITIIIC    MONUMENTS.  1/9 

sepulclinilcluuiiher,  whilst  in  others  the  cry  [)t  isrephiced 
by  a  simple  stone  cist,  genemlly  of  rectangulur  slia[)e. 
We  may  mention  in  tliis  connection  the  dolmen  of 
Bekoui-Noz  at  St.  Pieri-e  Quiberon,  whicli  is  remarkable 
for  its  great  size,  and  rises  from  the  midst  of  a  ceme- 
tery in  which  a  great  many  coflins  have  been  fonnd. 
The  bones  they  contained  were  unfortunately  dispersed 
at  the  time  of  their  discovery. 

Dolmens  are  scattered  about  in  great  numbers  in 
the  Kouban  basin  and  all  along  the  coasts  of  the  Black 
Sea  occupied  by  the  Tcherkesses.  These  curious  ves- 
tiges of  an  unknown  civilization  are  still  an  luisolved 
enigma  to  us,  as  are  those  of  AVestei'n  Europe;  they 
are  generally  formed  of  four  u[)right  slabs  surmounted 
by  a  fifth  laid  horizontally,  and  one  of  the  supporting 
slabs  is  nearly  always  juerced  with  a  small  round  or  oval 
opening.  Excavations  have  l)rought  to  light  arrow- 
heads, rings,  and  bronze  spirals,  but  Chantre,  an 
authoi-ity  of  considerable  weight,  and  who  has  more- 
ovei-  had  the  advantage  of  actually  seeing  tliese  niega- 
lithic  mcmuraents  of  the  south  of  Russia,  attributes 
the  ol)jects  found  beneath  them  to  secondary  inter- 
ments, and  does  not  hesitate  in  assigning  the  more 
ancient  monuments  themselves  to  the  Stone  age.  AVe 
must  not  omit  to  mention  the  dolmens  found  in  the 
southei'n  poi'tion  of  the  island  of  Yezo  (Japan),'  noi- 
that  described  l)y  Darwin  at  Puerto  Deseado  (Pata- 
gonia).   They  are  l)otli  very  similar  to  those  of  Europe. 

To  i-esume,  dolmens,  called  Ili'uiengrdher  m  Ger- 
many, stazzona  in  Corsica,  antas  in  Portugal,  and  stendos 
in  Sweden,  have  all  alike  one  large  flat  hoi'izoiital  slal) 

'  Moore,  Popular  Science  Monthly,  New  Vork,  March,  iSSo  ;  Zeitschrift  fiir 
Etlmolopc  :  Berlin,  1887. 


I  So  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

placed  on  two  or  more  npriglit  unhewn  stones.  This 
is  the  one  fixed  rule ;  local  circumstances,  perhaps  even 
the  caprice  of  the  builders,  decided  the  position  and 
the  mode  of  erection.  Often,  as  I  have  already  re- 
marked, dolmens  are  l)uried  beneath  tumuli,  but  ex- 
ceptions to  this  ai'e  numerous.  Greneral  Faidherbe, 
after  having  examined  more  than  six  thousand  dol- 
mens in  Algeiia,  affirms  that  the  greater  number  have 
never  been  covered  ^vith  earth,*  In  the  Orkney 
Islands  there  are  more  than  one  hundred  dolmens 
without  tumuli,  and  Martinet  failed  to  find  any  trace 
of  mounds  in  Berry.  In  Scotland  and  Brittany  we 
find  dolmens  l)uried,  not  l^eneath  mounds  of  earth,  Imt 
under  accumulations  of  pebbles,  called  cairns  in  Scot- 
land and  gahjaJs  in  Bi'ittany.  However  minor  details 
may  vary,  and  they  do  vary  infinitely,  one  main  idea 
everywhere  dominated  the  builders,  and  that  was  the 
desire  to  protect  from  all  profanation  the  resting- 
place  of  what  had  once  been  a  human  being. 

Cromlechs  are  circles  of  upright  stones  often  sur- 
rounding dolmens  or  tumuli.  Sometimes  they  foi'in 
single  circles,  and  at  others  two,  three,  or  even  seven 
separate  enclosures.  They  ai'e  common  in  Algeria,  Swe- 
den, and  Denmark,  and  in  the  last-named  country  two 
kinds  ai'e  distinguished  :  the  langdi/sserH,  which  form 
an  elli])se,  and  the  riindyssei's  wliich  form  a  perfect 
circle.  In  other  countries  crondeclis  ai-e  not  so  numer- 
ous;  there  are  but  few  in  France,  of  whicli  we  may 
name  those  of  Kergoman  (Morbihan),  Lestridion  in 
Plomeur,  and  Landaondec  in  Ci'ozon  (Finistere).  The 
last-named,  known  as  le  temple  des  fmix  dieux,  is  closed 
by  a  double  row  of  small  menhirs.     In  Italy,  the  only 

'  "  Monuments  de  Roknia,"  p.  iS. 


megalithic  monuments.  i8i 

cromleclis  known  aiv  tliose  of  Sesto-Calende  luid 
those  of  the  i^lateaii  of  Mallevalle  near  Ticino.  One 
of  the  latter  still  retains  in  their  original  position 
fifty-nine  huge  granite  blocks,  forming  a  circular  en- 
ceinte, a  seraieii'cle,  and  an  entrance  avenue.  A  few- 
leagues  from  the  ancient  Tyre  can  still  be  seen  a  circle 
of  upright  stones.  Ouseley  describes  another  at  Darab, 
in  Persia;  a  missionary  speaks  of  three  large  circles  at 
Khabb,  in  Arabia,  which  circles  he  compares  w^ith 
those  at  Stonehenge  ;  and  Di*.  Earth  tells  us  of  a  crom- 
lech between  Moui-zouk  and  Grhat. 

A  kurgan,  or  tumulus,  having  been  opened  in  the 
Kherson  disti-ict,  three  oi-  foui-  concentric  circles  were 
discovered  beneath  it,  sui-i'ounding  a  structure  of  con- 
siderable size.^  The  cromlech  of  Anajapoui'a  in  Cey- 
lon, probably,  how^ever,  erected  comparatively  recently, 
consists  of  fifty-two  granite  pillars,  about  thirteen  feet 
high,  encircling  a  Buddhist  temple.  At  Peshawur  is 
another  circle,  fourteen  of  the  stones  of  which  are  still 
upright,  whilst  traces  can  be  made  out  of  an  outer 
enceinte  of  smaller  stones ;  in  Peru  there  are  several 
cromlechs,  whilst  others  have  been  found  at  the  foot 
of  Elephant  Mount,  in  the  desert  plains  of  Austi-alia. 
The  last-named  vaiy  from  ten  to  one  thousand  feet  in 
diameter,  but  excavations  beneath  them  have  brouo-ht 
to  liofht  onlv  a  fe\v  human  bones. 

At  Mzoi'a,  in  Morocco,  the  traveller  will  notice 
a  mound  of  elliptical  shape,  some  21  or  22-|^  feet  high, 
flanked  on  the  west  by  a  gi'oup  of  menhirs,  and  sur- 
rounded by  an  enceinte  of  upright  stones  which  now 


'  Haxtausen  ;  "  Mem.  sur  la  Russie,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  204  ;  A.  Bogdanow  :  "  Mat. 
pour  Servir  a  I'Histoire  des  Kourganes,"  Moscow,  1879  ;  Margaret  Stokes  : 
"  La  Disposition  des  Principaux  Dolmens  de  I'Irlande,"  Rev.  Arch.,  July,  1882. 


1 82  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

number  about  forty.  In  1831,  there  ^\^ere  still  ninety, 
and  on  the  south  side  were  noticed  two  round  pillars 
parallel  ^vith  each  other,  which  probably  formed  an 
entrance.^  This  gi'oup  evidently  originally  formed  the 
centre  of  a  series  of  megalith ic  monuments,  for  on  the 
north  and  southwest  some  fifty  monoliths  can  still  be 
made  out,  some  still  ei-ect,  others  fallen."' 

It  was  in  Grreat  Bi'itain,  however,  that  cromlechs 
appear  to  have  reached  their  highest  development. 
That  of  Salkeld  in  Cuml)erland  includes  sixty-seven 
menhirs  ;  that  near  Loch  Stemster  in  Caithness,  thirty- 
three,  whilst  in  Westmoi-eland,  Long  Meg  and  her 
daughters  are  still  the  objects  of  superstitions  rever- 
ence. The  remains  at  Avebury  are  among  the  most 
remarkable  prehistoric  monuments  still  extant,  and 
evidently  originally  formed  part  of  a  most  important 
group.  This  group  had  an  outer  rampart  of  earth, 
with  a  ditch  on  the  inner  side,  within  which  was  a 
circle  of  u[)right  stones,  pi-obably  numbering  as  many 
as  one  hundred.  Within  this  circle  were  two  others 
of  smallei'  size,  each  in  its  turn  enclosing  yet  another 
circle  of  upright  stones.  In  the  middle  of  one  of  these 
inner  circles,  that  on  the  noi'th,  was  a  dolmen,  whilst 
that  on  the  south  enclosed  in  the  centre  but  a  single 
upright  menhir.  The  stones  used  in  constructing  these 
various  groups  were  all  such  as  are  still  to  l)e  found  on 
the  Wiltshii-e  downs.  From  the  southeastern  [)ortion 
of  the  extensive  eai'thcn  rampai't,  a  stone  avenue 
extended  for  a  considei'able  distance  in  a  perfectly 
straight  line,  ;ind   is  still   known  as  Kenneths  Avenue, 


'  Sir  A.  (1c  ('a|icll  IJniokc  ;   "  Skctclics  in  Spain  and  Morocco." 
*  Tissot  :    "  Kecherclies   siir    la    (Iccjyraphie    Coinparce    de    la     Mauritanie 
'i'ingitane." 


MEGA  LI  Tine    MONUMENTS.  1 83 

on  account  of  its  leadini^  to  the  village  <>f  Kennet. 
The  remains  on  Ilakpen  Kill  and  on  Silbury  Ilill  are 
all  supposed  to  have  been  originally  connected  with 
those  at  Avebury.  The  remains  at  Ilakpen  consist  of 
i-elics  of  two  circles,  one  about  140  feet  in  diameter, 
the  other  not  more  than  foi'ty.  About  eighty  yards 
from  the  inner  circle  was  found  a  double  row  of 
skeletons,  all  with  the  feet  pointing  towai-ds  the 
centre.  Silbury  Hill  is  itself  an  artificial  conical  mound, 
the  largest  in  England,  170  feet  high,  on  which  were 
originally  no  less  than  650  upright  stones,  of  which 
only  twenty  are  still  standing,  surrounded  by  a  trench. 
In  the  centre  of  the  circle  of  stones  a  single  menhir 
of  great  height  still  remains  ^vith  three  others  slo[)ed 
so  as  to  form  a  kind  of  crypt. 

The  megalithic  monuments  of  Stonehenge,  which  are 
probably  better  known  than  any  others  in  the  world, 
are  perhaps  also  the  most  curious.  The  group  is  sup- 
posed to  have  originally  consisted  of  an  outer  stone 
concentric  circle  some  one  hundred  feet  in  diameter, 
formed  by  thirty  piers  of  solid  masonry,  of  which  about 
twenty  can  still  be  made  out,  some  few  standing,  others 
lying  broken  U[)on  the  ground.  This  outer  cii'cle 
enclosed  a  second  of  similar  shape  but  lesser  diameter, 
within  which  again  were  two  elliptic  circles,  the  outer 
consisting  of  ten  or  twelve  sandstone  blocks  some 
twenty-two  feet  liigh,  standing  in  pairs,  each  [)air 
united  by  a  slal)  laid  hoi'izontally  aci'oss,  so  as  to  foi'm 
a  trilithon.  The  inner  elli[)se  was  formed  by  nineteen 
u})i'ight  masses  of  granite,  within  which  was  the  famous 
slab  of  blue  marble,  by  many  supi)Osed  to  have  been 
an  altar.  The  pillars  and  lintels  of  the  outer  portico, 
and  those  of  the  ti'ilithons,  are  fitted  together  with  the 


184  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

greatest  skill,  witb  tenons  and  mortices,  a  remarkable 
exception  to  the  general  rule  with  megalithic  monu- 
ments. Everywhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  Stone- 
henge,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  ai-e  tumuli,  all  nearly 
equidistant  from  the  principal  group  of  monuments,  a 
fact  which  has  led  many  archaeologists,  including  Henry 
Martin,  to  look  upon  Stouehenge  as  a  temple  sur- 
rounded b)  a  necropolis.  Excavations  at  Stonehenge 
have  yielded  a  few  human  bones  which  have  escaped 
the  flames,  with  some  stone  and  bronze  weapons. 

The  megalithic  monuments  of  Ii'eland  are  not  less 
important,  and  a  recent  survey  has  I'eported  no  less  than 
276  still  standing.^  The  crondechs  of  Moytura^  are 
supposed  to  commemorate  the  fearful  combats  which 
took  place  between  the  Firholgs^  or  Belgi©  as  they 
are  called  by  Irish  antiquaries,  and  the  Tuatha  de 
Dananns,  when  the  plains  of  Sligo  and  Meath  were 
dyed  with  blood,  before  the  former  ^vere  vancjuished 
and  retired  to  Arran.  Thei-e  are  still  no  less  than 
fourteen  dolmens  and  thirty-nine  cromlechs.  The 
bones  picked  up  beneath  the  stone  circles,  Avhich 
keep  alive  the  memory  of  these  sanguinary  conflicts, 
are  those  of  the  wai'iioi's  who  fell  on  the  battle- 
field, but  the  story  of  how  they  met  their  fate  l)elongs 
rather  to  history  than  to  the  subject  we  are  considei'ing. 
It  is  the  same  with  the  two  huge  monoliths  of  Coi'nwall. 
which  commemorate  a  battle  between  the  Welsh  Kins; 
Howel  Dha  and  the  Saxon  Athelstane,  as  well  as  with 
the  cromlechs  of  Ostrogothland,  where,  in  736,  took 

'  Margaret  Stokes  :  "  La  Distribution  des  Principaux  r)<)lmens  de  I'lrlande." 
Revue  Arch.,  July,  1882. 

^  Sir  W.  Wilde  :  "  Ireland,  Past  and  Present."  Miss  Pucklaiul  :  "  Cornish  and 
Irish  Prehistoric  Monuments."  A  nth.  Ins/..,  Nov.,  1S79.  O'Curry  :  "  Lectures 
on  the  Manuscript  Materials  of  Irish  History." 


ME  GAl.I  T//IC    MON  UMRN  TS.  1 8  5 

place  the  battle  in  whicli  the  old  Kiug  Harold  Hilde- 
Ijrand  was  overcome  and  killed  l)y  his  nephe\v',  Sigurd- 
Ring.  A  group  of  forty-four  circles  also  marks  the  site 
of  the  celebrated  combat  of  1030,  in  which  Knut  the 
Great  defied  Olaf  the  patron  saint  of  Norway.  We  may 
also  name  in  tliis  conneption  the  twenty  circles  of  stone 
erected  at  Upland  in  memory  of  the  massacre  of  the 
Danish  prince,  Magnus  Henricksson,  in  11P)1.  Yet 
another  group  of  circles  marks  the  spot  where,  about 
1150,  the  Swedish  heroine,  Blenda,  overcame  King 
Sweyne  Grate.  We  might  easily  multiply  instances  of 
the  erection  in  historic  times  of  similar  monuments, 
but  we  have  said  enouf>;h  to  show  that  the  mesfalithic 
form  was  by  no  means  confined  to  prehistoi'ic  days. 

Menhirs  properly  so  called,  also  known  as  lechs  in 
Brittany,  are  in  reality  isolated  monoliths  or  single 
upright  stones,  often  of  considerable  size.  One  of  the 
best  known  is  that  of  Locmariaker  (Fig.  59)  which  was 
nearly  seventy  feet  high.^  It  was  still  standing  in  1659, 
but  is  now  overturned  and  broken  into  four  pieces. 
The  flat  stone  resting  on  one  portion  of  it  is  known  as 
Caesar's  table.  On  some  menhirs,  notably  on  Sweno's 
pillar  in  Scotland,  a  cross  has  been  cut  on  one  side, 
showing  eithei'  that  this  form  of  monument  was  early 
adopted  by  Christians,  or  more  probably,  that  it  was 
adapted  to  their  use  after  having  long  previously  been 
a  relic  of  prehistoric  times.  On  the  other  side  of 
Sweno's  pillar  is  a  bas-relief  of  fairly  good  execution. 

In  some  cases  menhirs  mark  the  site  of  a  tomb, 
and  sometimes,  as  is  the  case  with  tlie  obelisks  of 
Egypt,  they  commemorate  some  happy  event.  A 
standing  stone  in  Scotland   preserves  the  memory  of 

'  Bill.  Sof.  Pol.  du  Morbihan,  April,  1SS5. 


MEGALITIIIC  MONUMENTS.  1 87 

the  battle  of  Largs,  wliicli  took  place  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  and  a  piously  preserved  legend  tells  how  the 
menhir  of  Aberlemmo  was  set  up  in  honor  of  a  victory 
over  the  Danes  in  the  tenth  century. 

Some  arclueologists,  in  view  of  the  sha[)e  of  certain 
menhirs  and  the  superstitions  connected  with  them, 
think  they  must  be  phallic  monuments.  Meidiirs  in 
France  are  quoted  in  this  connection,  cut  into  the 
form  of  the  phallus ;  and  the  same  form  occui's  in  some 
menhii's  near  Saphos,  in  the  island  of  Cypi'us,'  and  in 
others  found  amongst  the  I'uins  of  Uxmal,  in  Yucatan. 
Herodotus  I'elates  that  Sesostris  caused  to  be  set  u[), 
in  countries  he  conquered,  monoliths  bearing  in  relief 
representations  of  the  female  sexual  organs.  These 
are,  however,  but  exceptions,  isolated  facts,  and  it 
would  certaiuly  never  do  to  argue  from  them  that  men- 
hirs were  connected  with  the  ^vorship  of  the  generative 
powers  of  nature. 

It  is  extremely  difficult  to  get  at  the  statistics  of 
menhirs.  A  great  many  have  been  overthrown,  and 
yet  more  have  disappeared  altogether.  Probably,  be- 
sides the  alignments  or  stone  avenues,  tliere  ai'e  not 
more  than  twent}'  still  standing.-  (3ne  thing  is  certain, 
the  monolithic  form  of  monument  has  always  had  a 
great  attraction  for  the  human  race,  and  we  meet  with 
it  in  Egy[)t,  Assyria,  Persia,  and  Mexico,  as  well  as 
in  England  and  Brittany.  The  historian  speaks  of 
such  monuments  in  the  earliest  of  existino-  records: 
Homer    refers    to    them    in   the   Iliad,^   and   in    the 

-  S.  Reinach,  Rev.  Arch.,  1888.  Wilson  :  "  Megalithic  Monuments  of  Brit- 
tany." Cartailhac  :  "  La  France  rrehistorique,"  in  whicli  the  measurements  are 
given  of  the  principal  monuments  of  Brittany. 

*  A.  Bertrand  :    "  Archeologie  Celtique  et  (lauloise,"  p.  105. 

'  niad,  liook  x.xiii.,  v.  3S0. 


1 88  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

Bible  we  find  it  related  that  tlie  Lord  ordered  Joslma 
to  set  up  twelve  stones  in  memory  of  the  crossing  of 
the  Jordan  by  the  Israelites/ 

Alignments  are  gi'oups  of  menhirs  set  up  in  one  or 
more  rows.  Sometimes  large  slabs  are  laid  across  them, 
when  they  are  called  covered  avenues.  One  such 
alignment  at  Saint  Pantaleon  (Saone  et  Loire)  consists 
of  twenty  menhirs.  The  menhirs  of  El  Wad,  in 
Algeria,  form  long  avenues,  running  fi-om  west  to  east. 
The  Arabs  call  them  essenam,  and  according  to  tradi- 
tion they  were  erected  in  fulfilment  of  a  vow  made 
in  the  hope  of  ai-resting  the  march  of  an  enemy.  The 
tumulus  of  Run-Aoui-  (Finistere)  has  two  avenues  i-un- 
ning  at  right  angles  to  one  another.'  This  disposition, 
which  is  very  rare,  also  occurs  at  Karleby,  in  Sweden, 
and  by  a  remai'kable  coincidence  the  length  of  the  ave- 
nues (about  thirty-nine  and  fifty-five  feet),  is  the  same  in 
both  cases.  Sometimes  such  avenues  form  communica- 
tions between  several  dolmens,  leading  us  to  suppose 
that  near  the  chief  slept  the  members  of  liis  famil}^  or 
his  favorite  companions. 

The  covered  avenues  are  often  built  beneath  masses 
of  earth,  and  the  inner  rooms  became  regular  hypogea, 
These  hypogea,  or  subterranean  chambers,  are  very 
common  near  Paris,  and  we  may  mention  amongst 
many  others  those  of  Meudon,  Argenteuil,  Conflans- 
Sainte-Honorine,  Mai'ly,  Chamant,  La  Justice,  and  Com- 
pans.  The  tombs  of  Denmark,  the  Ginig  Grahen  of 
Nilssou,  show  an  arrangement  some^vhat  similar,  a  vast 
subteiTauean  chamber  being  readied  1)}'  a  })assage  end- 
ing in  a  small  stone  cist.     The  tumulus  of  Dissignac, 

'Joshua,  cha]).  iv.,  v.   \^  c-(  scq. 

^  P.  du  Chalellier,  Mem.  Soc.  J' Emulation  dcs  C6tes-du-No>-d,  vol.  xix. 


MEGALITIIIC    MONUMENTS. 


189 


near  Saint-Nazali'e  (Fig.  60),  .shows  tins  strange  arrange- 
ment of  two  galleries  running  parallel  with  each  other 
at  a  distance  of  alxmt  eighteen  feet.  The  walls  and 
ceilings  are  made  of  slabs,  and  the  interstices  are  filled 
in  with  flints.  These  galleries  are  some  thirty  feet  long, 
and  their  height  insensibly  increases  from  about  three 
to  nine  feet. 


Fig.  60. — Covered  avenue  of  Dissignac  (Luire-Inferieur) ;  view  nf    flie  chamber 
at  the  end  of  the  north  gallery. 

We  must  also  mention  the  Cueva  de  Mengal,  near  the 
village  of  Antequera,  in  the  province  of  Malaga  (Fig.  <U) 
Twenty  stones  form  the  walls  of  the  crypt,  five  blocks 
of  remarkable  size  serve  as  a  roof,  and  to  ensure, 
solidity  three  pillars  are  set  upi'ight  inside  of  the  junc- 
tion of  the  roof  blocks.  The  crypt  is  some  seventy- 
nine  feet  long,  its  greatest  width  is  about  nineteen  feet, 
and  its  height  varies  from  about  eight  to  nine  feet.  The 


190 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


leugtli  of  the  Pastoraroum,  near  Seville  is  about  eighty- 
seven  feet,  but  its  lieiglit  is  not  to  be  com2)ared  with 
that  of  the  one  at  Antecjiiera.  The  s(j[uare  crypt  at 
Pastora  is  very  interesting.  One  of  the  roof  stones 
having  been  broken,  it  has  been  strengthened  1)y  the 
addition  of  an  inside  pillar.^ 

At  Gavr'innis,  the  length  of  the  passage  leading  to 
the  crypt  exceeds  forty-two  feet  (Fig.  62),  and  the  Long 


Fig.  61. — Covered  avenue  near  Antequera. 

Barrow  of  West  Kennet  is  more  than  seventy-three  feet 
long  by  a  width  in  some  parts  exceeding  thirty -two  feet. 
In  the  Long  Barrows  of  Littleton,  Nempnitt,  and  Ule}', 
the  crypt  is  reached  by  an  avenue,  the  entrance  of  ^vhicll 
is  closed  by  a  trilithon,  and  a  similar  arrangement  is 
met  with  in  many  megalithic  monuments  of  Scania. 
The  sepulchral  chambers  of  oval  shape,  such  as  that 
met  with  in  the  island   of  Moen,  were  surmounted  by 

'  Cartailhac  :    "  Les  Ages  Prehistoriques  en  Espagne  et  en  Portugal." 


MEGALITHIC    MONUMENTS. 


191 


a.tiuuulus  some  100  yds.  ill  circii inference  ;  twelve  un- 
hewn stones  formed  the  walls,  and  five  large  blocks  the 
roof.  In  removing  the  earth  from  the  Moen  tomb,  the 
bones  of  several  human  individuals  were  found ;  and 
a  skeleton,  doubtless  that  of  the  chief,  lay  stretched 
out  in  the  middle  of  the  chamber,  whilst  the  bones  of 
the  others  had  evidently  been  ranged  against  the  walls 
either  in  a  sitting  or  crouching  position.  With  the 
bones  were  found  a  ilint  hatchet,  which  appeared  never 
to  have  been  used,  a  number  of  balls  of  amber,  and 
several  vases  of  dili'ei-ent  shapes. 


Fig.  62. — Ground  plan  of  the  Gavr'innis  monument. 

The  megalithic  monuments  of  Mecklenburg  are  sup- 
posed to  date  from  Neolithic  times,  and  are  constructed 
in  two  very  different  ways.  The  Hilneiigrdher,  formed 
of  huge  blocks  of  granite.set  up  at  right  angles  to  each 
other,  resemble  the  covered  avenues  of  France  and 
elsewhere ;  in  the  so-called  Itieseiihetten^  or  giant's 
beds,  on  the  contrary,  the  sepulchral  chamber  is  merely 
sunk  in  the  f>;round. 

We  must  also  mention  the  so-called  Grotte  des  Fees, 
or  fairy  grotto,  forming  part  of  so  many  of  the  mega- 
lithic monuments  of  Provence.  This  fairy  grotto 
includes  an  open-air  gallery  cut  in  the  mountain 
limestone  and  roofed  in  with  husre  flat  stones.     This 


192  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

gallery  leads  to  a  sepulchral  chamber  not  less  than 
seventy-nine  feet  long. 

The  stones  used  for  the  covered  avenue  of  Mureaux 
(Seine  et  Oise)  came  from  the  other  side  of  the  Seine, 
so  that  the  builders  must  have  crossed  the  river  in 
a  raft.  Excavations  have  brouo-ht  to  lio;ht  several 
skeletons  that  had  been  buried  without  any  attempt 
at  orientation,  tlie  bones  of  which  were  still  in  their 
natui'al  position.  The  objects  found  in  this  tomb  were 
very  numerous  and  belonged  to  the  Neolithic  period.^ 

AVe  have  now  specified  tlie  chief  foj-nis  and  modes 
of  arrangement  of  megalithic  monuments,  and  must  add 
that  they  are  often  found  in  juxtaposition.  At  Mane- 
Lud,  for  instance,  on  a  rocky  platform  which  had  been 
artificially  smoothed,  and  ^vhich  is  some  246  feet  long 
by  162  in  area,  we  find  at  the  eastern  extremity  an 
avenue  of  uj)right  stones,  on  the  ^^'est  a  dolmen,  and 
in  the  centre  a  crypt  surmounted  by  a  conical  pile  of 
stones.  Between  the  cone  and  the  avenue  the  ground 
is  covered  with  an  artificial  paving  of  small  stones 
cemented  togethei-,  and  known  in  F'l-ance  as  a  nappe 
pfierreuse,  and  amongst  the  stones  forming  this  paving 
were  found  (piantities  of  charcoal  and  bones  of  ani- 
mals. The  megalith  was  completely  l)uried  beneath  a 
mound  of  earth,  or  rather  of  dried  nuid,  the  amount  of 
which  was  estimated  at  more  than  o7,986  cubic  feet. 
At  l^estridiou  (Finistere),  a  ci'ondech  forms  the  start- 
ing-point of  an  alignment  formed  of  seven  I'ows  of 
small  menhirs,  tlie  mean  height  of  which  above  the 
grouii<l  does  not  exceed  three  feet;  and  these  align- 
ments lead  up  to  two  covered  a\'enues  and  a  central 
dolmen.     In  other  cases,  in  England  and  the  land  of 

'  Verreaux,  J'Anlliropologic,  1890,  p.  157. 


MEGA  L I THIC    MONUMENTS. 


193 


MoaT)  for  iiistauce,  alignments  simply  lead  to  crom- 
leclis  ;  whilst  in  some  few  cases,  as  at  Stennis  (Fig.  63), 
the  menliirs  are  scattered  about  a  [>laiii  in  great  num- 
hers,  with  nothing  either  in  their  form  oi-  their  position, 
or  in  the  traditions  relating  t(>  them,  to  throw  the 
slightest  light  on  their  origin. 


Fig.  63. — Monoliths  at  Steniiis,  in  the  Orkney  Islands. 

One  of  the  most  important  monuments  that  have 
come  down  t(»  ns  is  that  of  Carnae.  The  alignments  of 
Menec,  Kermario,  and  Kerlescant  include  1,771  men- 
hirs, of  which  675  are  still  standing.     The  alignments 


194  PREHISTORIC   PEOPLES. 

of  Erdeven,  which  succeed  those  of  Cariiac,  extend  for 
a  length  of  more  than  a  mile  and  a  half.  They  origi- 
nally included  1,030  menhirs,  of  which  288  are  still 
extant. 

The  archaeologists  of  Brittany,  cai'ried  away  ]3er- 
haps  by  their  patriotic  enthusiasm,  chiim  that  when 
these  monuments  were  intact  tliey  inchided  two  thou, 
sand  menhirs.  What  is  really  certain,  however,  is  that 
a  definite  plan  was  evidently  followed,  the  distances 
between  the  alignments  tallying  exactly ;  the  menhirs 
being  set  up  in  straight  parallel  lines  gradually  de- 
creasing in  size  to^vards  the  east.  Excavations  near 
them  have  Vjrought  to  light  fragments  of  charcoal,  masses 
of  cinders,  chips  of  silicate  of  flint,  with  numerous 
fragments  of  pottery,  and  tools  made  of  quartzite,  gran- 
ite, schist,  and  diorite,  similar  to  those  met  with  under 
all  the  other  megaliths  of  Morbihan.  This  is  yet 
another  proof,  if  such  ^^■el•e  needed,  that  they  were  all 
the  work  of  the  same  I'ace  and  all  probably  date  from 
the  same  period. 

The  number  of  megalithic  monuments  in  the  \vorld 
is  simply  incalculable.  M.  A.  Bertrand  estimates  the 
total  number  in  France  as  2,582,  distributed  in  ^'o 
depai'tments  and  1,200  communes.  They  are  most 
numerous  of  all  in  Brittany;  there  are  491  in  the  Gotes- 
du-Nord,  530  in  Ille-et-Yilaine.  I  am  not  sure  of  the 
number  in  Morbihan,  but  T  kno\\-  it  is  very  consider- 
able. The  commission  appointed  at  the  instigation  of 
Henry  Martin  decided  that  there  were  as  many  as  6,310 
megaliths  in  France,  but  then  amongst  these  were  in- 
cluded polishing  stones  and  cup-shaped  stones,  "svith 
other  similar  relics  of  the  remote  past.  Lastly,  a 
report  recently  presented  to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies 


MEGALITIIIC    MONUMENTS.  195 

by  M.  A.  Proust  estimates  at  419  tlie  iiuniber  of  groups 
classed  by  governmeut.  In  other  countries  these 
niunbers  are  greatly  exceeded.  There  are  2,000  mega- 
liths in  the  Orkney  Islands  and  a  great  many  in  the 
extreme  north  of  Scania^  and  in  Otranto  in  the  soutliern 
extremity  of  Europe,  whei'e  they  resemble  the  pedras 
fittas  of  Sardinia.  Pallas,  and  after  him,  llaxthausen, 
tells  us  that  there  are  thousands  of  kurganes  in  the 
steppes  of  Central  and  Southern  Kussia.^  These  kur- 
ganes are  cromlechs,  tombs  surmounted  by  upright 
stones,  square  or  conical  hypogea,  all  scattered  about 
without  any  apparent  system,  surmounted  by  roughly 
sculptured  female  busts,  known  amongst  the  common 
people  as  hamena  haba,  or  stone  ^vomen.  Tumuli,  too, 
abound  on  the  shores  of  the  Irtisch  and  of  the  Yenisei, 
mute  witnesses  to  the  former  presence  of  a  vanished 
race  of  which  we  know  neither  the  ancestors  nor  the 
descendants.  These  monuments  are,  however,  by 
some  atti'ibuted  to  the  Tchoudes,  a  people  who  came 
from  the  Altai  Mountains.  The  Esthonians,  the 
Ogris  or  Ulgres,  the  Finns,  and  perhaps  even  the  Celts, 
are  supposed  to  be  branches  of  the  same  ethnological 
tree.  This  is  however  quite  a  recent  idea,  and  at  best 
but  a  mere  hypothesis." 

Algeria  presents  a  vast  field  for  research,  and  it  is 
e3,sy  to  find  dolmens  and  cromlechs,  such  as  that  shown 
in  Fig.  64,  which  are  sepulchres  with  a  central  dolmen 
sui'rounded  by  a  double  or  triple  enceinte  of  monoliths 

'  Haxthausen  :  "  Mem.  sur  la  Russie  Mer.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  204.  "  Fouilles  des 
Kourganes,"  par  M.  Samokoasof,  Revue  Arch.,  1879.  Much  :  Mittheilungen 
der  A)ith.  Gesell.  in   IVien,  1878. 

■■^Onthis  point  see  the  excellent  work  l)y  Maury,  "  Les  Monuments  de  la 
Russie  et  les  Tumulus  Tchoudes,"  and  Meynier  and  Eichtal's  "Tumulus  des 
Anciens  Habitants  de  la  Siberie," 


196 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


driven  into  tlie  ground.  These,  monuments,  mucli  as 
they  dili'ei'  in  form  and  arrangement,  are  undoubtedly 
the  \\ork  of  one  strong  and  powerful  race  that  domi- 
nated the  ^vhole  of  the  north  of  Afiica ;  and  are 
represented  in  historic  times  by  the  Berbers,  and 
at  the  present  day  by  the  Kabyles. 


i  I 


//'  !!&#%% 


Fig.  64. — Cromlech  near  Bone  f  Ali^eria). 

Although  a  very  great  many  of  lliem  have  been 
destroyed,  the  French  jmssessions  in  Algeria  are  still 
as  I'ich  in  monuments  of  tliis  kind  as  any  <>f  the 
counti'ies  of  Europe.  On  Mount  Kedgcl-Safia  six  hun- 
dred dolmens  hnve  been   made  out,  with   stone   tables 


MKGALITIflC    MONUMENTS.  19/ 

resting  on  avails  of  dry  stones  .'ind  frequently  sui'- 
i-ounded  ])y  ci'omle(;lis.  Dr.  Weisgerber  has  recently 
announced  the  discovei-\'  in  tlu;  valley  of  Ain-Massin, 
on  the  west  of  Mzab,  of  a  crondech  consisting  of  a 
nundjer  (»f  concenti-ic  circles  of  lai'ge  stones  set  upon  an 
elliptical  tumulus^  more  than  fifty-foui"  S([uai'e  yards  in 
area.  Quite  close  is  a  workshop  of  flint  \\'ea[)ons,  prob- 
ably in  use  at  the  time  of  the  erection  of  the  megaliths/ 
In  ^[idjana,  the  number  of  megaliths  exceeds  10,000, 
and  General  Faidherl)e  counted  more  than  2,000  in  the 
neci'opolis  of  INIazela,  and  a  yet  larger  number  in  that 
of  Roknia.  '•  At  Bou-Merzoug,"  says  M,  Feraud,"  ''  in  a 
radius  of  three  leagues,  on  the  mountain  as  Avell  as  on  the 
plain,  the  whole  country  about  the  springs  is  covered 
with  monuments  of  the  Celtic  form,  such  as  dolmens, 
demi-dolmens,  menhirs,  avenues,  and  tumuli.  In  a 
word,  there  are  to  be  found  examples  of  nearly  every 
type  known  in  Europe.  For-  fear  of  being  taxed  with 
exasrsjfei'ation,  T  will  not  fix  the  number,  but  I  can 
certify  that  I  saw  and  examined  more  than  a  thousand 
in  the  three  days  of  exploration,  on  the  mountain  itself, 
and  on  the  declivities  wherever  it  was  possible  to 
place  them.  All  the  monuments  are  surrounded 
with  a  more  or  less  complete  enceinte  of  large  stones, 
sometimes  set  up  in  a  circle,  sometimes  in  a  square. 
In  some  cases  the  living  rock  forms  |)art  of  the 
enceinte,  which  lias  been  completed  with  the  help 
of  other  blocks  from  elsewhere.  It  is  often  difficult 
to  decide  where  the  monument  ends  and  the  rock 
begins.  AMien  the  escai-pment  was  too  abi'upt,  it 
was  levelled  with  the  aid  of  a  kind  of  retaining  wall, 

^  JRevue  d'Anth.,  iS8o,  p.  655. 

■Mem.  ilc-  la  Soc.  Arch,  dc  la  Provitice  dc  Coustantitw,  1863. 


198  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

wliicli  forms  a  terrace  round  the  dolmen.  The  dol- 
mens in  the  plain  seem  to  have  been  constructed  with 
even  greater  care.  The  enceintes  are  wider  and  the 
slabs  of  the  tables  larcirer."  Meo;alithic  monuments 
are  met  with  even  in  the  desert.  A  pyramid  built 
of  stones  without  mortar  rises  up  in  the  districts 
inhabited  by  tlie  Touaregs ;  and  quite  near  to  it  are 
fonr  or  five  tombs  surrounded  by  standing  stones. 

In  Algeria,  we  also  meet  with  quadrangular  P3'ra- 
mids  called  djedas,  which  measure  as  much  as  ninety 
feet  on  each  face,  but  do  not  rise  more  than  three 
feet  above  the  ground.  The  dead  were  buried  be- 
neath them  in  a  crouching  position.  We  know  noth- 
ing either  of  the  origin  of  these  djedas  or  of  the  date 
to  which  they  belong. 

The  monuments  of  Tunisia  were  probably  as  numer- 
ous as  those  of  Algeria.  We  may  note  especially  the 
vast  area  in  Enfida,  completely  covered  with  dolmens, 
one  hundred  of  which  are  still  standing,  and  in 
excellent  pi'eservation,  whilst  the  ruins  of  othei's  strew 
the  soil,  l^ringing  up  their  original  number  to  at  least 
three  thousand.  Those  described  by  M.  Girard  de 
Rialle '  ai'e  yet  more  interesting.  Near  the  vill.-ige  of 
Ellez,  on  the  road  from  Kef  to  Kerouan,  are  some 
fifteen  covered  avenues  disti'ibuted  witliout  apparent 
order,  and  rising  from  tlie  midst  of  lloman  ruins. 
Tlie  u[)i-ight  stones  vary  fi-om  about  ten  to  thirteen 
feet,  and  ai'e  surmounted  by  huge  slal)s.  The  chief 
dolmen  has  within  it  as  many  as  ten  chambers. 

Tliere  are  also  numerous  tunudi  in  Syria.  We  have 
ali'eady  alluded   to  that  of   Sarepta ;    and   there   are 

'  "Monuments  Megalithiques  de  la  Tunisie,"  Attt.  Afrtc,  July,  1884.     Dr. 
Koiiirc  :    "  I -es  Dolmens  dc  ri'.nfida."  Bull  Gi-(\^\  Hist.,  1886. 


MEGAi.irnrc  monuments.  199 

others  near  Antiocli  and  in  tlie  [)laiii  of  Be j-ca,  between 
Lebanon  and  Anti-Lebanon.  Major  Conder,  mIio  as 
captain  conducted  the  interesting  campaign  organized 
by  the  Palestine  Exploration  Society  in  1881  and  1882, 
speaks  of  the  ex[)loration  of  the  rude  stone  monu- 
ments as  one  of  the  most  intei'esting  features  of  the 
surveys,  and  says:  "The  disti'ibution  of  tlie  centres 
where  these  monuments  occur  in  Syria,  is  a  matter  of 
no  little  importance  .  .  .  no  dolmens,  menhirs,  or  ancient 
circles  liave  l)een  discovered  in  Juda'a,  and  only  one 
doubtful  circle  in  Samai'ia.  Tn  L()^ver  Galilee  a  single 
dolmen  has  been  found  ;  in  Upper  Galilee  four  of 
moderate  dimensions  ai'e  hiiown,  AYest  of  Tiberias 
is  a  circle,  and  between  Tyi-e  and  Sidou  an  enclosure 
of  menhii's.  At  Tell  el  Kady,  one .  of  the  Jordan 
sources,  a  centre  of  basalt  dolmens  exists,  and  at  Kefr 
AVal  .  .  .  there  is  another  large  centre.  At  Amman 
several  fine  dolmens  and  large  menhirs  are  known  to 
exist  ...  it  is  doubtful,  however,  if  all  these  examples 
added  together  Avould  ecpial  the  gi'eat  fields  of  rude 
stone  monuments  to  be  found  in  Moab,  for  it  is  calcu- 
lated that  seven  hmidrcMl  (\\;im[»les  were  found  by  the 
surveyors  in  1881.'  There  is  one  group  of  dolmens  at 
Ali  Safat,  in  Palestine,  in  whi(!h  the  supports  of  the  table 
are  pierced  with  an  opening.  This  is  a  veiy  interesting 
fact,  to  which  I  have  already  alluded,  and  to  which  I 
shall  have  to  refer  again.  Another  group  of  some 
twenty  dolmens  was  discovered  by  M.  de  Saulcy  on 
the  plateau  of  El  Azemieh,  one  of  which  rises  in  the 
centre  of  a  belt  of  roughly  sculptured  u[)right  stones; 
and  yet  a  third  group  is  to  be  seen  near  Mount  Nebo, 
which  Majoi'  Conder  thus  describes:    "Here  a  well- 

'  "  llelli  aii<l  Miiali,"  ]>]>.  19I  and  192. 


200  pKErrisroRic  peoples. 

defined  dolmen  was  found  northwest  of  the  flat,  I'nined 
cairn,  whicli  marks  the  summit  of  the  ridge.  The 
cap-stone  was  very  thick,  and  its  top  is  some  five  feet 
from  the  gronn(k  Tlie  side-stones  were  I'udely  piled, 
and  none  of  the  blocks  were  cut  oi'  shaped  .  .  .  Tn  sub- 
sequent visits  it  was  ascertained  that  on  the  south 
slope  of  the  mountain  there  is  a  circle  about  250  feet 
in  diameter,  with  a  wall  of  twelve  feet  thick,  consisting 
of  small  stones  piled  up  in  a  sort  of  vellum." ' 

With  regard  to  the  megalithic  monuments  of  India, 
we  can  only  repeat  what  we  have  already  said.  Colo- 
nel Meadows  Taylor  has  counted  2,129  in  the  district 
of  Bellary  (Deccan)  alone.  Many  legends  are  con- 
nected with  them  which  remind  us  of  those  of  Europe, 
some  attributing  their  ei'ection  to  dwarfs  or  giants, 
to  fairies  oy  to  genii,  whilst  others  think  they  were 
the  work  of  the  Kauranas  and  Pandaves,  the  cele- 
brated families  whose  long  struggle  is  described  in 
the  Mahabharata,  and  ^vere  probably  aboriginal  races 
of  the  continent.  The  plain  of  Jellalabad  and  of 
Nagpore,  and  the  \'alley  of  Cal^ul  are  literally  strewn 
with  these  monuments.  They  are  not  less  numerous 
in  the  Presidency  of  Madras,  where  they  chiefly  con- 
sist of  subterranean  chambers  made  of  huge  unhewn 
stones  or  of  dolmens  al)ove  ground  surrounded  by  one 
or  more  circles  of  upright  stones,  such  as  are  shown 
in  Fig.  65.  Major  Biddulpli,  \\\w\\  he  ascended  the 
valleys  of  the  Hindoo  Koosh  Mountains,  was  aston- 
ished to  see  on  every  side  megalitliic  monuments 
resembling  those  of  his  own  country,  and,  like  them, 
the  work  of  an  unkuow  n  i'ace.~ 


'  "  Heth  and  Moab,"  p.  249. 

^  "  Tribes  of  the  Ifindno  Koosli,"  Calcutta,  1881. 


Mt  GA  LI  TIIIC    MON  UMR  N  TS. 


20\ 


This  is,  of  course,  l)nt  n  very  rapid  sin-vey  of  the  iiieg- 
alithic  monuments  of  our  gh^be.  They  aro  most  of 
them  either  tomhs  intended  to  liold  the  hodies  of  the 
dead,  or  memoi-ials  set  np  in  tlieir  honor.  New  facts 
are  constantly  coming  to  light  in  this  connection,  and 
we  may  add  to  what  -we  have  already  said,  that 
beneath  the  tumulus  of  Mugen,  as  in  the  Cabeco 
d'Aruda  ( Portugal  ),   thei-e    ai'e    numerous  skeletons  ; 


?©%?^^^^a^^^ 


Fig.  65. — Dolmen  at  Pallicomlah,  near  Madras  (India). 

sixty-two  repose  in  the  se[)ulcliral  ehamV)er  of  Monas- 
tier  ( Lozere ) ;  the  dolmen  known  as  the  Mas  de 
TAveugle  ( Gard  )  covers  a  circular  cavity  in  -which 
fifteen  corpses  had  been  placed  ;  that  of  La  Mouline 
(  Charente  )  also  enclosed  a  number  of  skeletons,  all  in 
a  crouching  position,  whilst  above  them  were  placed 
two  clumsy  vases,  a  pious  offering  to  the  unknown 
dead.     The  [)rehistoric  cemetery   of  Maupas  contains 


202  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

several  crypts  of  irregular  form,  built  of  rubble  stone, 
and  surmounted  by  a  liuge  stone  which  had  become 
coiToded  by  age.  In  these  crypts,  too,  the  dead  were 
piled  up  on  each  other,  and  the  relics  found  with  them 
justify  us  in  assigning  them  to  the  Neolithic  age. 
Beneath  the  dolmens  of  Port-Blanc  (Morbihan)  w^ere 
two  upper  layers  of  dead,  stretched  out  horizontally 
and  separated  by  flat  stones.  In  the  Isle  de  Thinie 
(Morbihan  )  excavations  have  brought  to  light  twenty- 
seven  stone  cists  or  coffins  of  different  sizes,  all  intended 
to  be  used  for  burial.  Beneath  the  menhii's  of  Finis- 
tere,  cinders  and  stones  charred  by  fire  bear  eloquent 
witness  to  the  cremation  of  the  dead.  "Whenever  a 
dolmen  has  been  opened  in  Finistere,"  says  Dr.  Flo- 
quet,  "  cinders  or  l^ones  have  been  picked  up ;  why, 
then,  should  we  not  admit  that  all  dolmens  are  tombs  ? " 
This  is  I'eally  a  conclusion  to  which  we  ai-e  almost 
compelled  to  come,  and  the  names  lianded  (lo\vn  l)y 
popular  tradition  are,  if  need  be,  yet  anothei'  proof  of 
the  same  thing.  One  dolmen  at  Locmariaker,  for 
instance,  is  known  as  le  tomhean  dn  vieiUard,  a  covered 
avenue  at  Saint  Clildas  is  le  chiinp  <Ju  tomheau,  and 
farther  on  a  pathway  leading  to  a  ruined  megalith  is 
knowm  as  the  cliPininilii  f(»iiheau.  The  Abbe  Ilamard 
speaks  of  a  remai'kable  monolith  known  as  la  pier  re 
dm  chamj)  dolent,  and  another  cliamp  dolent  is  met  with 
near  Khciiiis,  \\hilst  a  gi'oup  of  moiniments  near 
Trehontei'euc  is  called  the  jardin  des  t(>i)d>e.%  and  the 
u[)i-ight  stones  of  Auvergne  are  known  by  the  charac- 
teristic name  of  \\w.  2^011  roiiHfK. 

Whetlier  we  examine  tlic  megaliths  of  Germany  or 
of  Poland,  the  mounds  of  Ohio  oi'  of  Kentucky,  of 
Missonii   <•!•  ••('   Arkansas,  it  is  ever  th(^  same  thing; 


MEGAl.ITinC    MONUMENTS.  203 

excavations  bring  to  light  striking  proofs  of  their 
destination,  and  everywhere  we  are  led  to  the  same 
conclusions. 

Arch{TBologists  would  certainly  appear  to  have  been 
justified  In  lioping  tliat  the  tombs  thus  scattered  about 
all  over  the  world  would  yield  such  useful  infoi'niation 
as  to  lead  to  some  final  conclusions.  Unfortunately, 
howevei",  this  has  \\(A  been  the  case.  Often  all  ti'ace 
of  burial  has  disappeared  in  successive  displacements, 
and  inoi-e  often  still,  the  home  of  the  dead  has  been 
violated  in  the  hope,  which  turned  out  to  be  imagi- 
nary, of  finding  treasures;  whilst  in  other  cases  the 
earliest  inhabitants  of  the  tombs  have  been  removed 
to  make  way  for  their  successors,  who  in  their  turn 
were  soon  afterwards  expelled.  Victory  and  defeat 
were  not  over  with  life,  but  were  met  with  yet  again 
in  the  grave. 

It  has  been  well  pointed  out  by  Fergusson,  in  his 
"Rude  Stone  Monuments,"  that  the  uiegalithic  architec- 
ture of  the  remote  past  is  a  thing  altogethei*  apart ;  its 
special  form  indicating  now  the  tendencies  of  a  race  or 
group  of  races  of  mankind,  now  the  particular  degree 
of  civilization  attained  l)y  a  race  at  a  certain  peiiod  ot 
its  develo[)ment.  A  cursory  view  of  these  monuments 
as  a  whole  would  lead  us  to  class  them  all  together  as 
masses  of  rough,  scarcely  hewn  stones  piled  up  with- 
out cement,  and  almost  always  without  oinamentation. 
In  studying  them  one  by  one,  however,  we  find,  in 
s[)ite  of  their  undeniable  family  likeness,  if  we  niay 
use  such  a  term,  that  it  is  (piite  easy  to  make  out 
certain  differences,  the  result  of  the  peculiar  genius 
of  tlie  race  by  whom  they  were  ei'ected,  or  of  the 
nature  of  th(i  materials  the  builders  had  at  their  dis- 


204 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


posal.  To  take  a  case  in  point :  Ci'oraleclis  are  most 
nnmeroiis  in  England,  and  dolmens  in  Fi-ance,  and 
in  both  these  conntries  we  meet  with  a  form  t)f 
dolmen  (Fig.  66)  such  as  is  i-arely  set  up  in  other 
districts ;  one  of  the  extremities  of  the  table  resting  on 
the  gronnd,  and  the  other  on  two  supporting  stones. 
In  Scandinavia  the  supports  are  eri'atic  l)locks,  in 
India  frao^ments  of  the  rocks  in  the  neig-hboihood ;  in 


/^^;  '^ 


Fig.  66. — Dolmen  at  Maintenoii,  \\itli  a  table  atioiit  icji  feet  long. 


Algeria  and  the  soutli  of  France  buildings  in  courses 
ai'e  often  met  witli ;  in  Bi'ittany  tlie  monuments  of 
Man/'-ci-lFioek  and  Mane-Lud  aiv  ])aved  with  large 
stones.  The  ground  fj'oin  wliicli  liscs  the  dolmen  of 
Cai'anda,  near  Fere  in  Tai'denois  (  .Visne  ),  is  covered 
with  slabs,  and  the  oj)ening  is  closed  witli  a  flat  stone 
resting  on  two  lintels.  We  cannot  speak  of  Caranda 
without  rel'ei'i'ing  to  llie  discoveries  and  magnificent 
publications   of  M.   F.   Moreau,   thanks  to   whom   the 


AfF.CAL/rJ//C    MONUMENTS.  2Q>% 

daily  life  of  the  Gnnls,  Gallo-Komaiis,  and  Merovin- 
gians is  brouglit  vividly  before  lis.  To  return,  how- 
ever to  our  monuments:  As  we  have  seen,  the  (*ry[)t 
was  in  many  eases  divided  into  two  or  more  sepulchral 
chambei's  by  \valls  made  of  stones.  We  find  this 
arrauij^ement  at  Gavr'innis,  at  (lamat  (Lot),  at  Alt- 
Sammit  in  Mecklenburg,  in  W'ayland  Smith's  cave  in 
Berkshire,  and  in  a  great  many  monuments  in  Scaudi- 
uavia.  M.  du  ('hatellier  speaks  of  several  megalithic 
monuments  in  Finistere,  including  a  central  dolmen 
and  several  latei'al  chambers.  The  chaml)ei'ed  graves 
at  Park  C-wu  in  Wales,  and  at  Uley  in  (Tloucestershire, 
contain  side  chambers,  those  of  the  former  with  a 
covei'ed  passage  between  them,  whilst  in  the  latter 
the  side  chambers  are  gi'on|)ed  round  a  centi'al  apait- 
ment.  At  New  Grange,  in  Ireland,  a  [)assage  moi-e 
than  ninety-two  feet  long  leads  to  a  double  chamber  of 
cruciform  shape,  with  a  roof  of  converging  stones.  Yet 
another  fine  example  of  a  similar  kind  is  that  of 
Maeshow  in  the  Orkney  Islands.  The  tomb  of  Vau- 
real  (  Seine-et-Oise  )  contains  thi'ee  crypts  of  different 
sizes.  The  lonof  barrow  of  Moustoir-Carnac  contained 
four  separate  chand)ei's,  the  westein  one  of  which  is  a 
dolmen  of  the  kind  known  as  Grottes  dest  Fees^  and  is 
su[)posed  to  be  much  older  than  the  rest  of  the  group. 
A  central  cii-cular  chambei',  with  walls  of  upi'ight 
stones,  has  a  roof  in  wliich  aii  atteni])t  has  been  made 
to  form  a  kind  of  dome,  the  stones  of  which  project 
and  overlaj)  each  other,  marking,  clumsy  as  is  the  con- 
struction, a  considerable  advance  on  anything  previ- 
ously accomplished,  and  adding  considerably  to  the 
solidity  of  the  monument. 

An  examination  of  the  megalithic  monuments  still 


206  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

standing  enables  us  to  judge  of  the  difficulties  witli 
whicL  their  builders  had  to  contend,  bearing  in  mind 
the  [)riinitive  nature  of  their  tools.  We  have  already 
given  the  dimensions  of  the  stones  forming  the  align- 
ments at  Carnac.  Those  at  Avebury  vary  in  height 
fi'om  about  fourteen  to  sixteen  feet,  and  in  the  Deccan 
is  a  tumulus  surrounded  by  fifty-six  blocks  of  granite 
of  an  even  greater  size.  One  of  the  slabs  of  the  Pedra- 
dos-Muros  (Portugal)  is  remarkable  for  its  size ;  and 
the  len2:tli  of  the  table  of  a  dolmen  on  the  road  from 
Loiidun  to  Fontevrault  is  more  than  seventy-two  feet 
long ;  that  of  the  dolmen  of  Tiaret  (Algeria)  is  some 
seventy-five  feet  long  by  a  width  of  nearly  twenty-six 
feet  and  a  thickness  of  nine  and  a  half  feet.  This 
extremely  heavy  l)lock  rests  on  supports  rising  more 
than  thirty-nine  feet  from  the  ground.^ 

Stone  as  well  as  wood  can  be  much  more  easily  cut 
in  one  direction  than  in  any  other.  Men  early  learnt 
to  recognize  this  peculiarity,  and  to  take  advantage  of 
it  in  attacking  rock.  With  their  stone  hammers  they 
struck  in  straight  lines,  always  aiming  at  the  same 
points,  and  then,  probably  with  the  help  of  a  fierce 
fire,  they  succeeded  in  breaking  oif  fragments.  They 
also  employed  wedges  of  wood,  which  they  drove  into 
natui-al  or  artificial  fissures,  pouring  water  on  to  this 
wedge  again  and  again.  The  wood  became  swollen 
with  the  damp,  and  in  course  of  time  a  block  of  stone 
would  be  detached.  Neither  time  nor  sinewy  arms 
were  wanting,  and  Fergusson  has  remarked  that  any  one 
who  has  seen   the   ease   with  which   Chinese    coolies 


'  Matdriaux,  1887,  p.  458.  M.  Pallart  ("  Mon.  Meg.  de  Mascaro"),  thinks  that 
this  dolmen  was  not  erected  by  man,  but  that  a  long  slab  of  stone  has  slipped 
down  the  slopes  of  the  mountain  and  rested  on  two  natural  supports.  It  is  not 
easy  to  accept  this  view. 


MEGALITHIC    MONUMENTS.  20j 

transport  the  largest  luouoliths  for  considerable  dis- 
tances, will  not  look  upon  tbe  difficulties  of  transport 
as  insurmountable.  A  more  serious  difficulty  would 
be  the  placing  of  the  table  of  the  dolmen  oii  the  sup- 
2:»orts,  which  are  often  raised  to  a  great  height  above 
the  ground.  It  is  supposed  that  earth  was  piled  up 
against  the  jambs  so  as  to  form  an  inclined  plane,  up 
which  the  table  was  slid  into  place  with  levers  and 
rollers  of  the  most  primitive  form,  such  as  were  in  use 
in  the  most  remote  anti(piity.  Sometimes  the  way  in 
which  these  stones  are  balanced  is  perfectly  marvellous. 
The  Martine  stone,  near  Livernon  (Lot),  for  instance, 
is  the  shape  of  a  boat,  and  the  slightest  touch  is  enough 
to  make  it  rock  on  its  two  supports.  That  of  Castle 
Wellan  (Fig.  55)  rests  on  three  stones  pointed  at  the 
top,  and  some  of  the  ti'ilithons  of  India  are  of  even 
more  remarkable  construction. 

Although,  as  a  general  rule,  megalithic  monuments 
are  without  ornamentation,  thei-e  are  a  good  many  ex- 
ceptions in  the  case  of  dolmens  made  of  very  hard 
granite,  on  which  numerous  carvings  and  engravings 
have  been  made.  It  is,  however,  impossible  to  decipher 
any  but  a  veiy  fe\v^  of  these  signs,  whether  circles, 
disks,  dots,  tooth  or  leaf  mouldings,  spirals,  serpentine 
lines,  lozenges,  or  stride. 

M.  du  Chatellier  describes  at  Commana  (Finistere) 
an  entrance  gallery  loaded  with  carvings,  and  the  Avails 
of  one  of  the  Deux-Sevres  monuments  have  on  them 
some  veiy  rough  representations  of  the  human  figure 
cnt  in  intaglio,  whilst  various  megaliths  of  Ireland  are 
adorned  with  circles,  spirals,  stars,  etc.  One  of  the 
supports  of  the  dolmen  of  Petit-Mont-en- Arzon  has  on 
it  a  representation  of  two  human  feet  in  relief ;  tliat  of 


2oS 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


Conedic  in  Lockmikel-Baden  is  paved  witli  flat  stones 
covered  \\A\\\  eno^ravinijs.  On  the  2;ranite  ceilins:  of 
tlie  crypt  l)eneath  the  dolmen  of  the  Mercliants,  or  as 
it  is  called  in  Bi'ittany  the  T>ol  ^^(l reliant,  is  engraved 
the  figure  of  a  large  animal  snpposed  to  have  been  a 


Fig.  67. — Part  of  the  Mane-Lud  dolmen. 

horse,  l>nt  the  head  of  ^vhicll  was  unfortunately  broken 
otf  at  some  remote  date.^  AVe  often  meet  with  repre- 
sentations of  hammers,  sometimes  with  and  sometimes 
without  handles.      AA^e  give  an  illustration  of  one  of 

'  Dr.   de  Closmadeuc,    agreeing,    I   think,   with    Henry   Martin,    derives  the 
name    of   Dol  Varchanl  from    Dol  Marcli-Hent,    the  table  of  the  horse  of  the 


MEGA  /./  THIC    MOX^OMEM  /'.V.  20^ 

tlie  walls  of  tlie  Main'-Liid  iiioiiuineiit  (Fig.  67),  wLicli 
will  enable  tlie  readcM-  to  judge  of  the  general  cliaracter 
of  these  eiiOT'aviii&s. 

The  inoiiunient  of  the  Isle  of  GaN  r'iniiis,  of  ^\•hich 
we  have  already  spokeo,  is  the  most  remarkable  of  any 
for  the  I'ichness  of  its  decoration.  It  inelndes  a  gallery, 
consisting  of  forty-uine  blocks  (tf  gi-anite  and  two  of 
quartz,  leading  to  a  spacious  apartment.  These  blocks 
were  brought  from  a  distance,  and  the  fact  tliat  the 
little  arm  of  the  sea  separating  the  island  from  the 
mainland  was  crossed,  proves  that  the  men  who  l)uilt 
the  monument  owned  boats  strong  enough  to  carry 
heavy  loads.  Excavations  carried  on  in  1884  brought 
to  light  a  pavement  consisting  of  ten  large  slabs  of 
granite,  and  beneath  this  pavement  was  found  a  kind 
of  crypt  at  least  three  feet  deep,  the  lower  part  of  the 
lateral  menhirs  forming  the  walls.  We  must  add, 
however,  that  Dr.  de  Closmadeuc,  and  his  opinion 
should  carry  weight,  thinks  that  when  the  Gavr'innis 
monument  was  erected  the  island  was  connected  with 
the  mainland.  Three  of  the  supports,  forming  the  walls 
of  the  cr^^pt,  and  all  those  of  the  gallery  are  covered 
with  chevrons  or  zig-zag  ornaments,  circles,  lozenges, 
and  scrolls  of  which  Fig.  68  will  give  some  idea,  and 
which  Merimee  compares  to  the  tatooing  of  the  in- 
habitants of  New  Zealand.  Megalithic  monuments  of 
Ireland  and  certain  stones  in  Northumberland  are 
ornamented  in  a  manner  resembling  the  Gavr'innis 
en2:ravino-  similar  desiofns  beino*  produced  Ijy  similar 
means,  and  although  the  engravings  of  Morbihan  are 
generally  more  clearly  cut  and  distinct,  we  note  in  all 
alike  the  same  absence  of  regularity,  the  same  rough- 
ness of  execution,  the   same  strange   types,  the  same 


2IO 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


disorder  in  tbe  arrangement  of  tlie  signs,  and  the  same 

care  to  preserve  tlie  surface  of  the  block  in  its  natural 

condition. 

There  has  been  a  good  deal  of  discussion  about  the 

orientation  of  megalithic  monuments,  and  the  truth  on 

that  point  once 
ascertained,  some 
light  might  be 
thrown  on  the  aim 
of  the  builders. 
It  is  evident,  how- 
ever, that  there 
never  was  any 
genei'al  system  of 
orientation.  The 
dolmens  of  Mor- 
bihan,  it  is  true, 
nearly  all  face  the 
east,  doul)tless  in 
homage  to  the 
sun  rising  in  its 
S])l  e  n  d  or  ;  but 
this  is  not  the 
case  in  Finistere, 
and  the  dolmens 
of  Kervinion  and 
Kervardel,  for  in- 

Fio.  68. — Sculptures  on  the  menhirs  of  the  covered    staUCe    ai'C  Set  due 
avenue  of  (lavr'innis.  ,i  t  ,i 

nortli  and  soutli. 
Leaving  l)i-ittany,  Ave  are  told  by  tlie  Rev.  W.  Lukis 
tliat  the  position  of  the  megalithic  moinimcnts  of  Eng- 
land varies  consideraldy  :  most  of  (lie  <h>lm('ns  of  Hei'ry, 
Poitou,   Aveyron,    aiul    the    island    of    Pxtndiohn,   face 


MEGA  LI  TIIIC    MOM  OMEN  TS. 


21 


wef=?t ;  and  tliose  of  Alf>;ei"iji.  am  set  soiitliwcst,  and 
northeast,  so  tliat  it  is  really  ini[)()ssil)le  to  come  to 
any  final  conclusion. 

Some  of  the  niegalithic  monuments  already  noticed 
have  a  peculiarity  to  which  we  must  refer  here  on 
account  of  its  importance.  One  of  the  supports,  in 
nearly  every  case  that  which  closes  the  entrance,  is 
pierced  with  a  circulai'  opening.  Sonietimc^s,  however, 
the  opening  is  elliptical  or  s(piai'e. 


Fig.  69. — Duliiien  with  opening  (India). 

We  meet  with  dolmens  thus  distinguished  in  India 
(Fig.  09),  in  Sweden,  in  Algeria,  in  France,  and  in 
Palestine,  where  they  aie  often  associated  with  sepul- 
chral niches  hew  11  out  of  the  rock  nnd  also  pierced  with 
an  opening  correspcmding  with  that  of  the  entrance. 
In  Alemtejo  (S})ain),  square  openings  occur.  West  of 
Ivarlehy  in  Sweden,  is  a  sepulchral  chamber  about 
twenty-nine  feet  long,  made  of  slabs  set  upright,  all 
those  facing  south  being  pierced  with  a  nearly  circular 
opening;  and  on  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea  dolmens 
made  of  four  upright  stones  surmounted  by  a  slab,  have. 


2l2 


PREHISTORIC   PEOPLES. 


ill  every  case,  one  of  the  iipi'iglits  pierced  with  an  arti- 
ficial opening  about  six  inches  in  diameter.  These  dol- 
mens are  said  by  the  country  people  to  have  been  set  up 
l)y  a  race  of  giants  who  Imilt  them  as  shelters  for  a 
dwarf  people  on  whom  they  had  compassion. 


iff,    \  ^ 


Fig.  70. — Dulmen  near  Trie  (Oise). 

In  France,  dolmens  with  openings  are  so  numerous 
that  it  is  difficult  to  make  a  selection.  That  known  as 
La  Justice,  near  Beaumont-sur-Oise,  consists  of  a  small 
vestibule  and  a  very  long  mortuary  chambei',  separated 
by  a  slab  pierced  with  a  round  opening.  We  must 
also  mention  the  megalithic  monument  of  Villers-Saint- 
Scpulchreat  Trie  (Oise)  (Fig.  70),  that  of  Gi-and-Mont, 
with  many  of  those  of  Morl)ihan,  of  wliich  tliat  of 
Kerlescant  has  an  oval  opening;  tlie  covered  avenue 
of  Conflans-Sainte-Houorine,  originally  erected  at  the 
confluence  of    the    Seine  and    Oise,  and    now   set   up 


MEGAIJTHIC  MONUMENTS.  213 

exactly  as  it  was  found  at  8aint  Geniiain,  has  an  oval 
opening,  and  [)resents  the  exceptional  feature,  of  which 
I  know  no  other  instance,  of  having  a  stone  for  closing 
the  o[)ening  if  necessary;  the  covered  avenue  of  Belle- 
haye  in  Normandy,  I'eproduced  with  })recision  at  the 
I*aris  Exhibition  of  18S9,  which  was  closed  by  a  trans- 
verse stone  with  an  opening  some  inches  in  diameter. 

Of  English  examples  we  may  mention  the  dolmens 
of  Ro(lmart(Mi  and  Avening  ;  Merimee  quotes  several 
naegalithic  monuments  in  Wiltshire;  and  Sir  J.  Simp- 
son, the  well-known  and  oft-described  KH^h  Cotty 
House,  whicli  is  nothing  more  than  a  dolmen  with 
an  opening.  Holed  Stones,  as  they  ai"e  called,  are 
numerous  in  Cornwall,  the  size  of  the  opening  vary- 
ing considerably  ;  that  at  Men-an-Tol,  for  instance,  is 
more  than  a  foot  in  diameter,  whilst  others  are  but  a 
few  inches  long.  At  Orry's  Grave,  in  the  Isle  of  Man, 
two  large  stones  are  so  placed  as  to  leave  a  circular 
space  between  them,  which  was  evidently  intended  to 
serve  the  same  purpose,  or  at  least  was  in  accordance 
with  the  same  superstition,  as  were  similar  character- 
istics elsewhere.  Setting  aside  the  interminable  legends 
connected  with  dolmens  having  openings,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  this  peculiarity  of  structure,  which  we  meet 
with  in  India  as  in  Scandinavia,  in  the  Caucasus  as  in 
France,  shows  that  the  builders  of  all  of  them  were 
impelled  by  a  similar  idea.  These  openings  are  too 
small  to  allow  of  the  introduction  of  other  coi-pses,  or 
to  afford  to  the  livino-  a  refuixe  in  the  home  of  the 
<lead  ;  they  could  but  have  served  for  the  passing  in 
of  food,  of  which  a  supply  \vas  so  often  left  for  tlie 
departed  ;  or  yet  another  interpretation  is  possible  : 
they  may  have  been  left  for  the  soul  or  the  spirit  to 


214  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

leave  its  earthly  pi'isou  aud  take  flight  for  those  happy 
i-egions  in  which  all  races  more  or  less  believe,  and  to 
which  belief  these  openings  may  be  ^vitnessed  to  the. 
present  day.  M.  Cartailhac,  however,  hazards  yet  an- 
other explanation,  aud  suggests  that  the  megalithic 
monuments  wei'e  intended  for  the  inteiment  of  whole 
families,  and  that  the  bodies  were  not  introduced  into 
the  tombs  until  all  the  flesh  was  gone,  when  the  skele- 
tons might  have  been  slipped  through  the  openings 
left  foi'  that  purpose.  The  repeated  disturbances  of  the 
remains  in  the  graves  have  unfortunately  often  entirely 
dispersed  all  the  human  bones. 

It  was  in  Brittany  that  the  art  of  erecting  dolmens 
reached  its  fullest  development,  and  it  is  there  that  the 
relics  found  in  the  tombs  are  of  the  most  important 
character.  Nowhere  do  we  flnd  weapons  more  care- 
fully preserved,  more  delicately  finished  ornaments  of 
a  more  remarkable  kind.  The  Museum  of  Yannes, 
where  most  of  the  valuable  objects  found  in  the  ex- 
cavations are  preserved,  possesses  quartzite,  fibrolite, 
diorite,  and  even  nephrite  and  jadeite  hatchets,  some  of 
which  materials  are  not  native  to  Europe ;  as  well  as 
amber  beads  and  a  necklace  of  cala'ite,  that  precious 
stone  described  by  Pliny,  and  which  long  remained  un- 
known after  his  time. 

Hatchets  or  celts  are  more  numerous  than  any  other 
o})jects  found  beneath  dolmens  of  Brittany.  A  report, 
read  ])y  M.  K.  Galles  to  the  Socictc  P()lymathi(]ue  of 
Morbihan,  enumerates  the  objects  found  with  the  dead 
beneath  the  dolmen  of  Saint-Michel.  This  I'epoi't  is  a 
regular  inventory,  in  which  figure  eleven  jade  celts  of 
great  elegance  of  form  and  varying  from  about  three 
and  a  half  to  sixteen  inches,  two  larger  celts  of  coarse 


MEGALITHIC  MONUMENTS.  215 

workmanship  both  l)roken,  twenty-six  small  fibrolite 
celts  with  sharp  edges,  nine  pendants,  more  than  one 
hundred  jasper  beads  which  had  been  part  of  a  neck- 
lace, and  lastly  an  ivory  ring.  Other  megalithic  mon- 
uments were  not  less  rich  in  relics.  Thirty  hatchets 
were  picked  up  at  Tumiac ;  more  than  a  hundred, 
nearl}'  all  of  tremolite,  at  Mane-er-H'roek ;  which  were 
I'emarkable  for  their  regularity  of  form,  their  polish, 
and  the  variety  of  their  colors.  They  seldom  bear  any 
traces  of  having  been  used,  and  in  many  cases  they 
appear  to  have  been  intentionally  broken,  j^robably  in 
conformity  with  some  funereal  rite.  Finistere,  though 
not  so  rich  as  Morbihan,  furnished  an  important  con- 
tingent. The  excavations  of  the  Kerhue-Bras  tumulus 
brought  to  light  a  sepulchral  chamber  which  contained 
thirty-three  arrow-heads.  Beneath  other  dolmens 
were  picked  up  a  number  of  little  plaques  of  slate,  all 
pierced  with  holes ;  one  of  these  pieces  of  slate,  which 
was  oblong  in  form,  bore  on  it  a  representation  of  a 
sun  with  rays  surrounded  by  ornaments  not  easy  to 
make  out.  The  Breton  megalithic  monuments  also  con- 
tained numerous  fragments  of  pottery,  some  of  which 
had  formed  pai't  of  vases  without  stands,  such  as  those 
found  at  Santoiin  and  at  Troy. 

In  other  parts  of  Finance,  similar  discoveries  have 
been  made ;  shells  often  brought  from  distant  shores, 
glass  beads,  amber  bowls,  hatchets  and  celts  made 
of  stone  foreign  to  the  country.  Dr.  Prunieres  pre- 
sented to  the  French  Association,  when  it  met  at  Bor- 
deaux, a  collection  of  wea[)ons  and  ornaments  ^vllicll 
came  from  the  megalithic  monuments  of  Lozere.  M.  Car- 
tailhac  described  at  the  Prehistoric  Cons^ress  of  Co- 
penhagen  the  dolmen  of  Grailhe  (Gard).     A  skeleton 


2l6  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

was  found  beueath  it  crouching  in  a  corner;  whilst 
round  about  it  lay  a  knife,  a  flint  arrow-head,  a  vase 
of  coarse  pottery,  and  in  the  earth  forming  the  tumu- 
lus were  picked  up  twenty  arrow-heads,  a  hatchet 
of  chloromelanite,  with  numerous  beads  and  fragments 
of  pottery.  Were  these  offerings  to  the  dead,  or  to 
the  infernal  deities,  given  to  them  in  the  hope  of  pro- 
pitiating them  in  favor  of  the  deceased  '\  Beneath  the 
megalith  of  Saint  Jean  d'Alcas  were  found  beads 
of  blue  glass  and  of  enamel  which  Dr.  Prunieres,  hav- 
ing compared  with  those  in  the  Campana  collection  in 
the  Louvre,  thinks  are  of  Phoenician  origin.  The  tu- 
muli of  the  Pyrenees  have  yielded  calaite  beads  of  the 
shape  of  small  cylinders  pierced  with  holes;  and  the 
dolmen  of  Breton  (Tarn-et-Garonne)  eight  hundred  and 
thirty -two  necklace  beads,  some  of  the  shape  of  a  heart. 
Beneath  the  Vaureal  dolmen  were  found  five  skulls  in 
a  row,  and  near  one  of  them,  that  of  a  Avoman,  lay  a 
necklace  made  of  round  bits  of  bone  and  slate,  on 
which  hung  a  little  jadeite  hatchet  as  an  amulet. 
These  human  relics  were  also  accompanied  by  a  fibro- 
lite  celt,  numerous  little  worked  flints,  and  some  frag- 
ments of  pottery.  This  arrangement  of  skulls  in  a 
tomb  is  very  rare,  and  the  only  thing  I  can  compare 
it  to  is  the  row  of  five  horses'  heads  placed  at  the  end 
of  the  entrance  gallery  of  Mane-Lud. 

At  Alt-Sammit  (Mecklenbui'g),  were  round  stone 
hatchets,  flint  knives,  fragments  of  potteiy  covered  with 
strijAi  and  ornaments;  at  Tenarlo  (Holland),  urns  and 
amber  beads.  At  Ancress  in  the  island  of  Jersey,  we 
find  a  regular  necropolis  dating  from  Neolithic  times, 
and  one  hundred  vases  or  urns  of  different  foinis  were 
collected.     In  the  Long  Barrow  of  West  Ken  net,  too, 


MEGALITinC  MOMUMENTS.  21/ 

were  found  numerous  fragments  of  potteiy,  and  with 
these  fragments  boars'  tusks  longer  than  those  of  the 
boar  of  tlie  present  day,  the  bones  of  sheep,  goats,  roe- 
deer,  pigs,  and  of  a  laige  species  of  ox,  all  of  which  are 
probably  relics  of  a  funeral  feast.  At  a  little  distance 
from  West  Kennet  the  Rev.  Doyen  Merewether  found 
sevei'al  Hint  implements.  Here  too,  then,  as  elsewhere, 
the  home  of  the  living  was  side  by  side  with  the  rest- 
ing-place t)f  the  dead. 

Beneath  the  dolmens  of  West  Gothland  have  been 
found  polished  stone  weapons  and  tools  associated  with 
the  bones  of  domestic  animals,  in  many  cases  bearing 
traces  of  tlie  work  of  the  hand  of  man.  At  Olleria,  in 
the  kingdom  of  Valencia,  at  Xeres  de  la  Frontera,  we 
find  diorite  hatchets,  and  in  Algeria  vases  filled  with 
the  shells  of  land  mollusca.  In  every  clime  we  meet 
with  tokens  of  the  resj)ect  in  which  the  dead  were  held. 

This  resj^ect  is  really  very  remarkable.  The  builders 
of  the  dolmens  did  not  hesitate  to  sacrifice  their  most 
precious  objects,  their  richest  ornaments,  their  hatchets 
and  precious  stones  brought  from  a  distance  by  their 
tribe  in  their  long  migrations.  No  one  would  dream  of 
robbirig  the  sacred  collection.  Our  own  contemporaries, 
however  civilized  we  may  flatter  ourselves  by  consider- 
ing them,  would  not  })rove  themselves  as  disinterested. 

Hatchets,  pottery,  and  personal  ornaments  of  stone^ 
bone,  etc.,  are  not  the  only  artificial  o})jects  found 
beneath  the  megalithic  monuments.  Metals,  too,  have 
been  discovei'ed,  and  M.  Piette  in  one  of  his  excava- 
tions, came  across  a  plate  formed  of  very  thin  layers  of 
gold  leaf  welded  together  by  hammering;  and  in  several 
parts  of  the  south  of  Fi-ance  have  been  found  olives 
made  of  gold  and  pierce<l  lengthwise.     The  dolmen  of 


2l8  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

Cai'Douet  iu  Brittany,  insigDificaut  as  it  appears  and 
containing  but  one  small  sepulchral  chamber  with  no 
gallery  of  access  or  lateral  crypts,  beneath  a  tumulus 
about  thirteen  feet  high  by  some  eighty-five  in  diame- 
ter, and  which  was  left  untouched  until  our  own  day, 
actually  contained  a  golden  necklace  weighing  over 
seven  ounces;  in  the  crypt  of  the  Castellet  monument 
was  found  a  golden  placpie  and  a  golden  bead;  whilst 
the  Ors  dolmen  in  the  isle  of  Oleron  concealed  a  nugget 
which  had  been  rolled  into  the  shape  of  a  bead  prob- 
ably after  having  been  beaten  thin  with  a  hammer.  At 
Plouharnel,  two  golden  amulets  were  found  beneath  a 
tri[)le  dolmen,  and  M.  du  Chatellier,  in  excavating 
beneath  a  megalithic  monument  in  Finistere,  found  a 
macrnificent  chain  of  gold.  A  somewhat  similar  chain 
was  taken  from  the  Leys  dolmen  near  Inverness,  and  in 
1842  Lord  Albert  Cunningham  picked  up  at  New 
Grange  (Ireland)  two  necklaces,  a  brooch,  and  a  ring, 
all  of  gold. 

More  than  a  hundred  megalithic  monuments  of 
France  have  been  found  to  contain  bronze,  and  this 
number  would  be  more  than  doubled  if  we  counted  the 
finds  in  tombs  not  connected  with  megaliths,  such  as 
those  of  Aveyron  and  Lozere,  where  a  few  bits  of 
bronze  were  found  mixed  with  numerous  stone  objects. 
One  fifth  of  the  weapons,  especially  the  swords  and 
da2i:Q:ers  found  beneath  the  dolmens,  are  of  bronze.  At 
Kerhue  in  Finistere,  a  number  of  bronze  swords  were 
arranged  in  a  circle  round  a  little  heap  of  cinders  and 
black  earth,  relics,  probably,  of  the  cremation  of  the 
dead,  in  honor  of  whom  the  tumulus  had  been  erected. 

Beneath  the  dolmens  of  Roknia  (Algeria)  were  found 
thirteen  bronze    ornaments,  and  two  in  silver  gilt  of 


MEGALITHIC    MONUMENTS.  219 

very  superior  workiiuiuship,  and  iiiuler  those  of  the 
Caucasus  were  picked  up  blue-glass  beads,  arrow-heads, 
and  bronze  rings ;  but  M.  Chautre,  who  is  an  authority 
in  the  matter,  thinks  these  ol)jects  date  from  interments 
subsequent  to  tlie  erection  of  the  dolmens. 

Iron  was  much  more  ]*arely  used  than  l)r<)iize  in  tlie 
greater  part  of  Europe.  It  was  not  even  known  in 
Scandinavia  before  the  Christian  era.  In  Germany, 
Pannonin,  and  Noricum  its  use  dates  from  the  sixth  or 
seventh  centuiy  b.c.  Beneath  the  mounds  of  Central 
Araei'ica  we  find  but  a  few  fragments  of  meteoric  iron, 
the  I'arity  of  wliich  made  them  extremely  valuable ; 
on  tlie  other  hand  iron  was  known  to  the  Hellenes  as 
long  ago  as  the  fourteenth  century  b.c,  and  -it  had 
been  employed  in  Egypt  for  many  centuries  prior  to 
that  time.  The  most  ancient  sepulchres  of  Malaljar 
contain  iron  tridents,  and  Genesius  dates  their  use  fi'om 
before  the  deluge.  It  is  therefore  surprising  to  find 
that  some  races  remained  for  an  illimitable  time  ig- 
norant of  the  w^ay  to  procure  a  metal  of  such  great 
utility. 

Iron  was  not  used  in  Brittany  until  towards  the  close 
of  the  period  during  which  megalithic  monuments 
were  erected.  Stone,  bronze,  and  iron  ^vere  found 
together  in  the  Nignol  tomb  at  Cai'nac,  which  dates 
from  the  time  when  cremation  was  already  practised. 
We  find  the  same  association  of  different  materials  in 
the  Rocher  dolmen. 

In  the  British  Isles,  especially  in  Scotland  and  in  Ire- 
land, bronze  and  iron  objects  are  more  numerous  than 
in  France.  At  Aspatria,  near  St.  Bees  in  Cumberland, 
a  cist  was  discovered  containing:  the  skeleton  of  a  man 
measuring  seven  feet  from  the  crown  of  the  head  to 


220  PREHISTORfC  PEOPLES. 

the  feet.  Near  the  giant  lay  niimerons  vahiable  ob- 
jects, iochidiug  an  iron  sword  inlaid  w  ith  silver,  a  gold 
buckle,  the  fragments  of  a  shield  and  of  a  battle-axe, 
and  the  iron  i)it  of  a  snaffle  bridle.  The  gi'eat  cairn 
of  Dowth,  in  Ireland,  contained  iron  knives  and  rings 
mixed  with  l)one  needles,  copper  pins,  and  glass  and 
amber  beads,  all  showing  rapid  progress  in  the  indus- 
trial arts.  The  remarkable  cairns  near  Lough  Crew 
(Ireland),  which  were  untouched  and  indeed  imknown 
to  archaeologists  until  1863,  were  found  to  contain, 
amongst  many  other  interesting  objects,  numerous 
human  bones,  fragments  of  pottery,  shells  of  marine 
mollusca,  4,884  bone  implements,  and  seven  pieces  of 
iron  very  much  oxidized.  The  tumuli  of  the  Grand 
Duchy  of  Posen  and  those  of  Prussia  cover  kistvaens 
containing  funeral  vases,  weapons,  and  silver  and 
gold  ornaments. 

AVe  are  altogether  in  the  dark  as  to  the  date  or  the 
use  of  the  various  objects  found  in  these  tombs,  and 
the  coins  bearing  dates  which  are  often  associated  ^vith 
them,  do  not  seem  to  help  us  much,  belonging  as  they 
doubtless  do  to  a  much  later  period  tlian  the  erection 
of  the  monuments.  We  may,  however,  mention  that 
neai"  the  surface  of  the  mound  of  Mane-ei'-IT'roek  eleven 
medals  of  Roman  em})erors  from  Tibei'ius  to  Trajan 
were  found  ;  whilst  under  the  tumulus  of  Rosmeur,  on 
tli(^  Penmai'ch  Point  (Finistere),  wei'e  various  Roman 
coins;  at  Bergousin  Lockmariakei-,  at  Mane-Rutual,  and 
at  other  places  in  Brittany,  coins  of  the  earliest  CHiristian 
emperors  ;  at  Uley,  in  Gloucestershire,  some  coins  of 
IIk;  time  of  the  sons  of  Constantine  ;  at  Mininc^-Low 
(Derbyshire),  beneath  a  kistvaen  surrounded  l)y  a 
cromlech,  some  medals  of  Valentinianus;  at  Galley-Low, 


MEGALITHIC    MONUMENTS.  221 

witli  Ji  magnificent  gold  necklficeset  with  garnets,  a  coin 
of  Honoi'ius,  but  as  these  last  were  found  at  the  outer 
edsre  of  the  mound  there  are  doubts  as  to  the  time  of 
their  deposition  ;  these  doubts  wei'e,  howevei",  to  some 
extent  set  at  rest  by  the  iinding  of  a  coin  of  (leta 
beneath  the  monument  itself.  We  might  multiply  in- 
stances of  similar  finds,  but  I  will  only  mention  <»ne 
more,  the  discovery  under  some  Scotch  barro^vs  of 
silver  necklaces  and  coins  of  the  Caliplis  of  Bagdad, 
beai'ing  date  from  887  to  945  a.d. 

This  last  discovery  confirms  \vhat  I  have  already 
said,  that  the  introduction  of  the  coins  was  of  nuich 
later  date  than  the  ei'ection  of  the  monument. 
Another  fact  adds  weight  to  this  decision.  The  most 
ancient  Gallic  coins  date  from  about  three  centuries 
befoi'e  oui'  era,  and  the  earliest  British  from  a  century 
earlier  than  that.  How  is  it  that  excavations  have 
brought  to  light  no  specimens  of  either?  The  Romans 
successively  occupied  all  the  countries  of  which  we 
have  just  spoken  ;  the  tombs  themselves  bear  witness 
to  their  conquests;  and  it  is  to  the  violation  of  the 
tombs,  the  dis[)lacements,  and  secondary  interments 
that  we  owe  the  introduction  of  coins,  pottery,  and 
])ricks  that  undoubtedly  date  from  the  Roman  pei'iod, 
and  were  [)i*obably  placed  beside  their  dead  by  the 
Roman  legionai'ies. 

Whatever  may  be  the  difliculties,  howevei',  we  are 
ali'eady  able  to  come  to  ceitain  definite  conclusions. 
We  cannot  connect  the  megalithic  monuments  with 
any  one  of  the  ancient  religions  known.  They  were 
certainly  not  set  up  in  honor  of  Odin  or  of  Osiris,  of 
Astarte  or  of  Athene,  the  Phoenician  or  the  Egyptian, 
the  Greek  or  the  Roman  gods  ;  their  erection  seems  to 


222  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

have  had  but  one  end  in  view,  to  do  honor  to  the 
dead.  Beneath  none  of  them  do  we  find  the  remains 
either  of  the  cave-bear  or  of  the  reindeer,  still  less  of 
the  mammoth  or  of  the  rhinoceros ;  whereas  we  do 
constantly  meet  with  the  bones  of  animals  chai'acter- 
istic  of  Neolithic  times.  It  is  therefore  to  that  period 
that  we  must  attribute  the  more  ancient  of  these 
mysterious  monuments.  And  the  setting  up  of  such 
memorials  continued  throuijjhout  the  intermediate  time 
between  the  Stone  and  Bronze  ages,  and  through  the 
Bronze  and  Iron  periods.  It  was,  indeed,  still  prac- 
tised now  and  then  in  the  earlier  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era.  More  than  that,  such  monuments  are 
even  now  occasionally  erected.  The  Khassias  of  India 
make  cromlechs  of  large,  flat  unhewn  stones,  some  six 
to  seven  feet  high,  and  the  Angami-Nagas  of  the  ex- 
treme north  of  Britislj  India  set  up  extensive  align- 
ments of  menhirs,  similar  to  those  of  France.  In- 
scriptions in  the  old  Irish  cipher  writing,  known  as 
ogham.,  })rove  that  megalithic  monuments  were  erected 
in  Ireland  after  the  time  of  St.  Patrick  ;  and,  as  we 
have  already  remai'ked,  some  of  the  Breton  menhirs 
are  sui'rounded  by  crosses.  In  India,  too,  we  find  the 
symbol  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  in  18<i7,  were  dis- 
covered on  the  shores  of  the  (lodavery  between  Hyder- 
abad and  Nagpore,  a  few  dolmens  made  of  four  u})right 
stones  surmounted  by  one  or  two  slabs  of  sandstone, 
and  encircling  a  cross  wliich  is  said  to  date  from  the 
same  aoje  as  the  dolmens  themselves.  We  must  add, 
however,  that  the  most  competent  archaeologists  are  of 
opinion  that  this  foi'm  of  the  cross  was  not  introduced 
into  India  until  about  the  sixth  or  seventh  century  of 
our  era.    Probably  the  erection  of  megalithic  monuments 


MEGALITHIC    Af  ON  U.I/EN  TS.  223 

was  not  discontinued  in  Eno-land  or  in  France  until 
towards  the  eightli  or  ninth  century  after  Christ ;  and 
the  menhirs  set  up  later  in  Scotland  and  in  Scandinavia 
prove  how  fondly  the  people  of  those  countries  clung 
to  ancient  traditions.  These  rude  stone  monuments 
were  handed  down  fi'oni  one  race  to  another,  from  in- 
vaders to  invaded,  from  conquered  to  conquerors. 

We  must  not,  however,  omit  to  mention  one  serious 
objection.  Roman  historians,  exact  as  is  their  descrip- 
tion of  Gaul,  Britannia,  and  Germauia,  are  silent  as  to 
stone  monuments.  Tacitus  does  not  refer  to  Stone- 
henge  or  to  Avebury.  Caesar  was  present  at  the  naval 
l)attle  between  his  own  fleet  and  that  of  the  Veneti,  in 
the  Gulf  of  Mor])ihan,  and  if  the  megalithic  monuments 
of  Carnac  were  then  there,  would  they  not  have 
arrested  the  attention  of  the  gi'eat  captain  ?  This 
silence  is  the  more  inexplicable  as  one  of  the  earliest 
geographers  mentions  the  stone  of  lapygia ;  Ptolemy 
speaks  of  a  similar  stone  on  the  shores  of  the  ocean  ; 
Strabo,  of  a  group  of  dolmens  near  Cape  Cuneus ; 
Quintus  Curtius,  of  an  important  alignment  in  Bactri- 
ana  ;  Pliny,  who  mentions  a  leaning  pillar  in  Asia  Minor, 
says  nothing  of  the  megalithic  monuments  of  Gaul, 
which  he  crossed  several  times.  Moreover,  Ausonius, 
Sidonius,  Appollinaris,  and  Foi'tunatus,  who  are  so 
eager  to  glorify  their  own  land,  maintain  a  similar 
silence  with  regard  to  these  structures.  Sulpicius, 
Severus,  and  Gregory  of  Tours,  old  chroniclers  of 
French  history,  also  pass  them  over  ^vithout  a  \vord. 
More  than  that,  Madame  de  Sevigue,  who  was  stop- 
ping at  Auray  in  1089,  and  visited  its  environs, 
writes  to  her  daughter  of  all  she  has  seen  and  done, 
without  alluding   to  the  alignments   of  Carnac,  or  of 


224  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

Erdeven,  which  were,  of  course,  much  more  complete 
in  her  day  thau  in  ours.  lu  fact,  tliey  are  mentioned 
for  the  first  time  by  Sauvagere,  in  his  "  Recueil  des 
Antiquites  de  la  Gaule,"  in  which  he  attributes  them  to 
the  Komans.  We  may  therefore,  perhaps,  conclude 
that  these  decayed  and  clumsy-looking  monuments 
were  despised  for  generations,  no  one  realizing  their 
importance  or  caring  to  penetrate  their  secrets. 

If  need  were,  we  have  yet  other  proofs  of  their 
extreme  antiquity.  In  excavating  an  alignment  in  the 
district  occupied  by  the  Kermai'io  grou[),  a  Roman 
encampment  was  discovered.  The  enceinte  is  repre- 
sented by  a  long  wall  about  six  feet  thick,  and  propped 
up  against  this  wall  were  found  a  number  of  flat  stones 
blackened  with  smoke,  on  which  the  legionaries  doubt- 
less cooked  their  food.  In  some  instances  these  hearths 
were  made  on  an  overturned  menhir,  and  other  men- 
hirs, which  had  belonged  to  the  alignment,  were  fitted 
into  the  walls.  A  Roman  road  passes  near  Avebury, 
and,  contrary  to  their  general  custom,  the  haughty 
conquerors  had  turned  aside  to  avoid  the  tumuhis. 
These  are  decisive  proofs  that  in  France  and  England 
at  least  the  megalithic  monuments  were  ei'ected  before 
the  advent  of  the  Romans. 

Difficult  as  it  is  to  come  to  any  definite  conclusion 
as  to  the  age  of  the  monuments,  it  is  yet  more  difficult 
to  ascertain  to  what  race  their  builders  l)elonge(l.  In 
the  first  place  we  ask  :  Are  they  all  the  work  of  one 
race  ?  The  contrar}^  earnestly  maintained  by  M.  de 
Mortillet,  has  long  been  the  general  opinion.  M.  AVor- 
saae  declared,  at  the  Brussels  Congress,Hhat  the  dolmens 
were  erected  by  different  peoples ;  M.  Cazalis  de  Fon- 

'  Coniptc  7-endu,  p.  421. 


MEGAi.ITHIC    MONUMENTS.  22  5 

douce/  M.  Broca,^  and  M.  Cartailliac,''  share  this  belief. 
"  Are  not  the  nionunients  of  huge  stones,"  says  M, 
Fondouce,  "tlie  product  of  a  })rogressive  civilization 
growing  })y  degrees,  rather  than  the  work  of  a  single 
people  maintaining  their  own  niannei's  and  customs  in 
the  midst  of  the  old  primitive  populations  they  visited, 
without  bori-owing  anything  from  their  hosts  ?  "  To 
Broca,  the  resemblance  between  the  dolmens  of  Eui'ope, 
Africa,  and  even  t)f  America  proves  but  one  thing : 
the  similarity  of  the  aspirations  and  powers  of  all 
men.  Everywhere,  and  at  every  time,  men  have  aimed, 
in  their  monuments,  not  only  at  durability,  but  at  the 
expression  of  foi'ce  and  of  power.  It  was  with  this 
end  in  view  that  they  erected  menhirs  and  selected 
enormous  stones  for  their  mes^alithic  monuments.  The 
dolmen,  which  looks  like  an  architectural  building,  is 
but  a  modification  of  primitive  tombs.  The  cave-man 
first  turned  to  account  natural  or  artificial  rock  shelters, 
and  when  they  wei'e  not  to  be  had,  he  imitated  them 
in  such  materials  as  he  had  at  his  disj)osal.  Hence  we 
have  crypts,  kistvaeus,  and  dolmens ;  and  the  resem- 
blance between  them  proves  nothing  as  to  the  parent- 
age of  their  builders. 

We  may  add  that  the  distances  between  what  we 
may  call  megalithic  zones  is  considerable.  We  meet, 
for  instance,  with  dolmens  in  Circassia  and  in  the 
Crimea,  but  there  are  no  others  nearer  than  the  Baltic. 
There  are  none  in  the  districts  peopled  by  the  Belga^, 
from  the  Dreuthe  to  the  borders  of  Normandy,  nor  are 
there  any  in  the  valleys  of  the  Rhine  or  of  the  Scheldt. 

'  Mat.,  \'i-i-l,  p.  470. 

*  Ass.  Francaise,  Bordeaux,  1872,  p.  725. 
3  Rev.  d'Anth.,  1881,  p.  283. 
25 


226  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

Tliei'e  are  but  a  few  in  Italy  or  in  Greece,  where  Pelasgic 
buildings  were  early  erected,  and  bore  witness  to  a  more 
advanced  civilization.  We  meet  witli  them  again, 
however,  in  Palestine,  but  we  must  traverse  many 
miles  before  we  find  other  examples  at  Peshawur  and 
in  the  valley  of  Cabul.  It  is  difficult  to  overrate  the 
importance  of  these  facts,  or  to  explain  these  gaps. 
Are  they,  however,  so  complete  as  has  been  supposed  ? 
The  few  travellers  who  have  crossed  Afghanistan  and 
Daghestan  have  seen  tumuli  which  may  have  served 
as  points  of  union  between  the  monuments  of  India 
and  those  of  the  Caucasus.  The  megalithic  monuments 
of  Palestine  and  of  Arabia  may  yet  be  found  to  be 
linked  with  those  of  Algeria,  by  examples  in  the  little 
known  regions  between  the  Nile  and  the  Regency  of 
Tripoli.  If  our  ignorance  forbids  us  to  assert  anything 
on  this  point,  it  equally  forbids  our  denying  anything 
with  any  confidence.  We  may  also  add  one  general 
remark:  the  countries  where  megalithic  monuments 
are  found,  abound  in  granite,  in  sandstone,  and  in  flint, 
whilst  other  districts  have  only  very  friable  limestones  ; 
and  their  monuments,  if  they  were  ever  erected,  would 
have  been  more  easily  destroyed,  the  very  ruins  disap- 
pearing and  leaving  no  trace. 

It  has  been  said,  moreovei',  that  the  mode  of  con- 
struction of  the  dolmens,  and  we  have  ourselves  made 
the  same  remark,  is  far  from  being  the  same  every- 
where. The  dolmens  of  Brittany  have  sepulchral 
chambers  with  long  passages  leading  to  them ;  those 
of  the  neighborhood  of  Paris  have  wide  covered  ave- 
nues with  a  veiy  short  entrance  lobl)y.  In  the  south 
of  France  we  see  nothing  but  rectangular  compart- 
ments formed  of  four  or  five  colossal  stones.     All  this 


MEGALITHIC    MONUMENTS.  22/ 

is  true  enough  ;  but  if  we  examine  our  old  cathedrals 
of  comparatively  modern  date,  the  common  origin  of 
which  is  never  disputed,  we  note  differences  no  less 
remai'kable.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  urged  that  if 
megalithic  monuments  were  all  erected  by  one  race, 
the  objects  they  contain  would  certainly  resemble 
each  other  to  a  great  extent.  But  even  this  is  not  the 
case.  The  hatchets  so  numerous  in  the  west  of  France 
are  rare  in  the  south  ;  those  from  the  Algerian  monu- 
ments are  always  of  coai'se  workmanship,  whilst  those 
of  Denmark  are  highly  finished.  We  might  multiply 
instances,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  do  we  not  see  the 
same  kind  of  thing  in  the  present  day,  in  spite  of  our 
railways  and  other  modes  of  rapid  communication,  and 
the  perj^etual  intermarrying  of  modern  peoples  ?  Com- 
pare the  ornaments  of  Normandy  with  those  of  the 
Basque  provinces,  those  of  Brittany  with  tliose  of  Bur- 
gundy, and  surely  the  differences  between  them  will 
be  found  to  be  as  great  as  we  note  in  the  weapons  and 
ornaments  of  the  builders  of  the  megalithic  monu- 
ments. 

To  sum  up :  according  to  the  opinion  of  many  emi- 
nent savants,  numerous  races  have  been  in  the  habit 
of  raising  megalithic  monuments,  the  foi'in  of  which 
varies  ad  infinitum  according  to  the  genius  or  the 
circumstances  of  each  race,  and  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  soil  or  of  the  material  at  the  disposal 
of  the  builders.  All,  however,  belong  to  one  general 
type,  and  bear  witness  to  one  general  influence,  which 
extended  tlirouo"hout  the  whole  world  at  a  certain 
epoch.  M.  Cazalis  de  Fondouce,  from  whom  I  bor- 
row these  last  observations,  would  probably  find  it 
as  difficult  to  say  how  a  general  influence  was  ex- 


228  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

tended  to  races  of  which  he  denies  the  common  parent- 
age, and  the  relations  and  contemporaneity  he  can 
but  guess  at,  as  I  myself  should — granting  the  con- 
trary hypothesis — to  explain  how  a  peo[)le  conld  wan- 
der about  the  world  in  incessant  migrations  without 
modifying  its  own  habits  or  communicating  to  others 
its  rites  and  its  mode  of  erecting  monuments. 

We  cannot,  however,  fail  to  recognize  the  evidence 
of  facts.  We  can  understand  how  men  were  every- 
where impelled  to  raise  mounds  above  the  bodies  of 
their  ancestors,  to  perpetuate  their  memory  or  to  en- 
close their  mortal  remains  between  Hat  stones  to  save 
them  from  being  crushed  by  the  weight  of  earth  above 
them.  We  may  even,  by  straining  a  point,  admit  the 
idea  that  a  large  cist  developed  into  a  dolmen,  but 
when  in  districts  separated  by  enormous  distances 
we  see  monuments  with  the  wall  pierced  with  a  circu- 
lar opening  or  combining  an  interior  crypt  with  an 
external  mound  and  dolmen,  it  is  impossible  to  look 
upon  these  close  resemblances  as  the  result  of  an 
accidental  coincidence,  and  equally  impossible  to  fail 
to  conclude  that  the  men  whose  funeral  rites  were 
remarkable  for  such  close  similarity  belonged  to  the 
same  race. 

What  then  was  this  race  ?  Are  these  monuments 
witnesses  of  the  jxreat  Aryan  inunio-ration  wliich  was 
for  so  long  supposed  to  have  spread  from  India  over 
the  continents  of  Asia  and  Euro[)e,  and  of  wliich  the 
Indo-Eui'o])('aii  languages  were  said  to  |)r<'S('rv('  the 
memory  I  Oi-  is  it  really  the  fact  that  a  I'elationshij) 
of  language  does  not  imply  a  relationshi])  of  race? 
AVere  the  hiiildci-s  of  the  (hdmciis  (Vlts  oi'  (lauls, 
Ligures  or  Cymri  ?    was  Henry  Martin  I'ight  in  ascrib- 


MEGAUTH/C  MONUMENTS.  229 

ins:  to  the  Ciiuei-ii  of  Scandiniivi.-i  tlie  erection  in  the 
Bronze  age  of  tlie  megulitlis  of  Irehmd  {  AVus  it 
tlie  Turanians,  \\itli  tlieir  worship  of  ancestors,  their 
respect  for  the  tombs  of  their  forefathei'S,  niid  tlieir 
desire  to  per})etnate  their  memory  to  eternity,  who 
set  lip  the  dolmens  of  .Brittany  ?  Was  it  not  perhaps 
rather  the  Tberians,  wliose  descendants  still  people 
Spain  and  the  north  of  Afi'iea  :!  According  to  Maury, 
the  distribution  of  the  megalithic  monuments  of 
Euro[)e  marks  the  last  refuge  of  vanquished  Neo- 
lithic races,  Heeing  before  their  conqueroi-s.  All  these 
hypotheses  are  plausible,  all  can  be  defended  by  argu- 
ments, the  weight  of  which  it  is  impossible  to  deny,  but 
none  are  capable  of  conclusive  proof,  none  can  finally 
convince  the  student.' 

An  old  Welsh  poet,  referring  to  the  long  barrows 
of  his  native  land,  says  that  they  are  altogether  in- 
explicable, and  that  it  is  impossible  to  decide  who 
set  them  up  or  who  is  buried  beneath  them.  And 
surely  this  ancient  bard  ms  right  even  now.  Vainly 
do  we  question  these  silent  witnesses  of  the  remote 
past.     They  give  us  no  answer,  and  we  can  but  repeat 

'  By  permission  of  the  author,  the  translator  adds  the  following  quotation 
from  Taylor's  "Origin  of  the  Aryans,"  ]).  17,  which  is  referred  to  by  Professor 
Huxley  in  his  paper  on  the  Aryan  question  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  for 
November,  i8go.  Taylor  says  :  "  It  is  now  contended  that  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  an  Aryan  race  in  the  same  sense  that  there  is  an  Aryan  language,  and 
the  question  of  late  so  frequently  discussed  as  to  the  origin  of  the  Aryans  can 
only  mean,  if  it  means  anything,  a  discussion  of  the  ethnic  affinities  of  those 
numerous  races  which  have  acquired  Aryan  speech  ;  with  the  further  question, 
which  is  perhaps  insoluble,  among  which  of  these  races  did  Aryan  sjieech 
arise  and  where  was  the  cradle  of  that  race  ?  " 

'  This  poet  is  one  of  those  whose  work  is  to  be  found  in  tlie  so-called  "  Black 
Book  of  Caermarthen."  See  also  "  The  Four  Ancient  Books  of  Wales  Con- 
taining the  Cymric  Poems  Attributed  to  the  Bards  of  the  Sixth  Century." 
Edinburi^h,    1S68. 


230  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

liei'e  what  we  said  at  the  be,£!;inning  of  this  inquiry: 
Human  science  is  powerless  to  lift  the  veil  hiding  the 
early  history  of  humanity.  Will  it  ever  be  so  ?  Or 
will  the  day  yet  dawn  when  the  veil  will  be  rent 
asunder  at  last?  Time  alone  can  solve  this  question, 
which  is  one  of  those  secrets  of  the  future  as  difficult 
to  fathom  as  those  of  the  past. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

INDUSTRY,  COMMERCE,  AND  SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION;    FIGHTS, 
WOUNDS   AND    TREPANATION. 

When  we  consider  the  discoveries  conuected  with 
the  Stone  age  as  a  whole,  we  are  struck  with  the  im- 
mense numbers  of  weapons  of  every  kind  and  of  every 
variety  of  form  found  in  different  regions  of  the  globe. 
The  Koman  domination  extended  over  a  great  pai't  of 
the  Old  World,  and  it  lasted  for  many  centuries. 
Everywhere  this  people,  illustrious  amongst  the  na- 
tions, has  left  tokens  of  its  power  and  of  its  industiy. 
Roman  weapons,  jewelry,  and  coins  occupy  considerable 
sjiaces  in  our  museums ;  but  numerous  as  are  these 
relics  of  the  Romans,  they  are  far  inferior  in  number 
to  the  objects  dating  from  prehistoric  times,  and  flints 
worked  by  the  hand  of  man  have  been  picked  up  by 
thousands  in  the  last  few  years,  forming  incontestable 
witnesses  of  the  I'apid  growth  of  a  lai'ge  population. 

One  important  point  remains  obscure.  Schmerling 
has  excavated  fifty  caves  in  Belgium,  and  only  found 
human  relics  in  two  or  three  of  them ;  and  of  six  hun- 
dred explored  by  Lund  in  Brazil,  only  six  contained 
human  bones.  Similar  results  wei'e  obtained  in  the 
excavations  of  the  mounds  of  North  America,  as  well 
as  in  the  caves  of  France.  M.  Hamy,  in  a  book  pub- 
lished a  few  yeai"s  ago,  only  mentions  twelve  finds  of 
human    bones,  which  could,    without   any    doubt,   be 

231 


232  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

dated  from  Palaeolithic  times.  True,  this  numher  has 
been  added  to  by  i-ecent  discoveries,  but  it  is  still 
(juite  iusignificaiit.  It  is  the  same  thing  with  the 
kitchen-middings  and  the  Lake  settlements.  This 
paucity  of  actual  liuman  remains  forms  a  gaj)  in  the 
evidence  relating  to  prehistoric  man,  which  dis- 
turbances and  displacements  do  not  sufficiently  account 
for,  and  to  which  we  shall  refer  again  when  speaking 
of  prehistoric  tombs. 

Woi'ked  flints  are  generally  found  in  numbers  in  one 
place,  probably  formerly  a  station  or  centre  of  human 
habitation.  Men  were  beginning  to  form  themselves 
into  societies,  and  the  dwellings,  first  of  the  family  and 
then  of  the  tribe,  I'apidly  gathered  together  near  some 
i-iver  rich  in  fish,  or  some  forest  stocked  with  game 
affording  plenty  of  food  easily  obtained.  The  caves 
also  afford  proofs  of  the  number  of  men  who  inhabited 
them.  In  one  alone,  near  Cracow,  Ossowski  discovered 
876  bone  implements,  more  than  3,000  flint  objects, 
and  thousands  of  fragments  of  pottery.  From  the 
Veyrier  cave,  near  Mount  Saleve,  were  taken  nearly 
1,000  stone  implements;  from  those  of  Petit  Morin, 
2,000  arrow-heads  ;  from  that  of  Cottes,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Gartampe,  more  than  264  pounds'  weight  of 
flints,  some  of  the  Mousterien  and  others  of  the 
Madeleine  type,  mixed  with  the  bones  of  the  rhi- 
noceros, and  of  several  large  beasts  of  prey  of  indeter- 
minate species.  The  Abbe  Duci'ost  picked  up  4,000 
flints  in  one  dwelling  alone  at  Solutre,  where  the  soil 
is  calcareous  and  flint  is  not  native,  so  that  it  must 
have  been  bi'ought  from  a  distance.  More  than  8,000 
different  objects  were  taken  from  the  fine  Neolithic 
station  of  Ors  in  the  isle  of  Oleron ;   12,000  chijjs  of 


INDUSTRY.  233 

stone,  bearing  marks  of  liiinian  workmanship,  were 
picked  up  in  the  Thayngen  Cave,  and  more  than  80,000 
in  the  diffej'ent  caves  of  Belgium.  The  shelter  of 
Chaleux  alone  yielded  80,000  pieces  of  stone,  at  every 
stage  of  workmanship,  from  the  waste  of  the  manu- 
factory to  the  highly  finished  implement.  Other  ex- 
plorers have  been  no  less  fortunate.  The  Marquis  of 
Wavrin  found  in  the  environs  of  Grez  no  less  than 
60,000  worked  stones  belonging  to  no  less  than  thirty 
different  types,  chieiiy  arrow-heads,  some  triangular, 
others  almond-shaped,  others  again  cutting  trans- 
versely, some  with  and  some  without  feathers,  some 
stalked,  others  not ;  in  a  word,  arrows  of  every  known 
type.  Nothing  bnt  an  actual  visit  to  the  Royal 
Mnseuni  of  Bi'ussels  can  give  any  idea  of  the  import- 
ance of  the  discoveries  made  in  Belgium. 

The  environs  of  Paris  are,  ho\vever,  no  less  rich. 
As  early  as  Palaeolithic  times  the  valleys  of  the  Seine 
and  its  tributaries  were  evidently  inhabited  by  a  nu- 
merous population.  M.  Biviere  mentions  a  station 
near  Clamart,  where,  in  a  limited  space,  he  picked  up 
more  than  900  flints,  some  worked,  others  mere  chips, 
many  of  which  had  been  subjected  to  heat.  A  sand-pit 
of  Levallois-Perret  yielded  4,000  stone  objects,  and 
on  the  plateau  of  C'hampigny,  full  of  such  terrible 
memories  for  the  people  of  Fi'ance,  were  found  nearly 
1,200  flints,  knives,  j^olished  hatchets,  lance  heads  and 
scrapers,  mixed  with  numerous  fragments  of  hand- 
made pottery  without  ornamentation. 

Are  yet  other  examples  needed  ?  M.  de  Mortillet 
estimates  at  more  than  25,000  the  number  of  speci- 
mens found  on  the  plateau  of  Saint  Acheul,  the 
scene    of    the    earliest    discoveries   that   revealed    the 


234  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES, 

existence  of  man  iu  Quaternary  times  ;  and  the  sta- 
tion of  Concise,  on  Lake  Neiicbatel,  which  is  one  of 
the  most  ancient  in  Switzerland,  yielded  a  yet  more 
considerable  number.  Many  have,  however,  been  lost 
<)!•  destroyed  ;  the  ballast  of  the  railway  skirting  the 
lake  contains  thousands  of  worked  stones  and  of  pieces 
of  the  waste  left  in  making  them,  all  of  which  were 
taken  from  the  bed  of  the  lake.  It  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  it  is  only  of  late  years  that  the  importance 
of  these  I'elics  of  the  past  has  been  recognized  and  that 
any  one  has  dreamt  of  preserving  or  of  studying  them. 

The  excavation  of  a  gravel  pit  at  Dundrum  (County 
Down,  Ireland)  yielded  1,100  flint  implements,  and 
M.  Belluci  himself  picked  np  in  the  province  of 
Perouse  more  than  17,000  pieces,  chiefly  spear-,  lance-, 
or  arrow-heads,  belonging  to  six  different  types.  The 
Bi'oholm  Museum  contains  72,409  weapons  and  imple- 
ments, all  found  in  Denmark. 

We  can  quote  similar  facts  in  other  countries.  Pre- 
historic stations  are  numerous  in  the  Sahara  and 
throughout  the  Wadyel  Mya,  in  Algeria,  and  we  have 
already  spoken  of  the  numerous  specimens  found  near 
Wargla.  The  worksho23S  in  this  district  are  generally 
surrounded  by  immense  numbers  of  ostrich  eggs,  which 
seem  to  indicate  tliat  that  bird  was  already  domesticated.^ 

In  America,  Dr.  Abbott  has  sent  to  the  Peabody 
Museum  moi'e  than  20,000  stones,  which  were  collected 
by  hira  at  Trenton,  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  and 
quite  recently  I  was  told  that  in  sinking  a  well  in 
Illinois  the  workmen  came  upon  a  deposit  of  more  than 
1,000  worked  flints,  all  of  oval  foi'm.  Every  one 
knows   the    importance    of   the   recent  discoveries  at 

'  Koureaii,    Hiil.  S,<<\  d/o^-.,  June   i,    1S83. 


INDUSTRY.  235 

Washington,  and  we  might  multiply  examples  ad 
infinitmn,  for  everywhere  explorers  come  upon  un- 
doubted traces  of  the  active  work  and  intelligence  of 
comparatively  dense  populations,  all  of  whom  had  at- 
tained to  about  the  same  degree  of  development. 

These  numerous  deposits  often  mark  the  site  of 
regular  workshops,  tokens  of  the  earliest  attempt  at 
social  organization.  In  no  other  way  can  we  explain 
the  piles  of  flints  in  every  stage  of  workmanship  lying 
beside  the  lumps  from  which  they  \vere  detached.  One 
of  the  most  celebrated  of  these  workshops  is  that  of 
Grand-Pressigny,  chief  town  of  the  canton  of  the  de- 
partment of  Indre-et-Loire,  which  is  admirably  situated 
between  two  picturesque  rivers,  the  Claiseand  the 
Creuse. 

The  flint  implements  of  Grand-Pressigny,  of  which 
specimens  can  be  seen  in  all  the  museums  of  Europe, 
are  some  sixteen  inches  long,  of  light  color,  pointed 
at  one  end  and  square  at  the  othei*.  One  face  is 
rough,  the  other  chipped  into  three  oblong  pieces, 
whilst  the  sides  are  roughly  hewn  into  saw-like  teeth. 
If  w^e  examine  these  flints  closely  we  can  easily  make 
out  the  exact  point,  the  eye,  as  workmen  call  it,  where 
the  stone  was  struck.  At  Charbonniere,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Saone,  to  quote  other  examples,  in  a  radius  of 
less  than  a  mile,  wei'e  found  weapons,  tools,  and  nuclei, 
which  may  be  compared  with  those  of  Gi'and-Pi'es- 
signy.  In  some  places  the  collections  of  flints  still 
I'eniaining  look  as  if  they  had  been  used  for  road- 
making.  In  some  cases  hatchets,  knives,  and  scrapers 
seem  to  have  been  buried  in  pits.  Were  these  the 
reserve  stores  of  the  tribe,  or  the  so-called  eaclies  of  the 
merchants  ? 


236  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

It  is  difficult  mei'ely  to  name  the  different  workshops 
or  manufactories  discovered  in  tlie  hist  few  years.  We 
must,  however,  endeavor  to  mention  the  most  important, 
for  these  workshops,  we  must  repeat,  are  an  important 
proof  of  the  existence  of  a  society  of  organized  working 
communities.  We  meet  with  them  on  the  shores  of 
the  bay  of  Kiel,  in  the  island  of  Anholt,  in  the  midst 
of  the  Kattegat,  and  on  the  boi'ders  of  the  Petchoura, 
and  of  the  Soula,  among  the  Samoieds.  Virchow 
discovered  an  aiTow-head  manufactory  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  Burtneek,  and  in  1884  the  Moscow  Society  of 
Natural  Sciences  made  known  the  existence  of  important 
workshops  near  the  Yetluga  Rivei",  in  the  province  of 
Kostroma,  so  that  we  know  that  in  remote  prehistoric 
times  men  lived  and  fought  in  a  rigorous  climate  in 
districts  but  sparsely  populated  in  our  own  day. 

There  is  nothing  to  surprise  us  in  all  these  facts. 
Recently  near  the  Yenesei  River,  in  the  heai't  of 
Sil)eria,  were  found  bronze  daircrers,  hatchets  and 
bridle  bits  (Fig.  71),  all  bearing  witness  in  the  beauty 
of  their  workmanship  to  a  more  advanced  state  of 
civilization  than  the  Lake  Dwellino;s  or  mes-alithic 
monuments  farther  south.  Many  of  them  are  orna- 
mented with  figures  of  animals,  so  that  at  an  epoch  less 
remote,  it  is  true,  than  the  one  we  have  been  consider- 
ing, but  still  far  removed  from  our  own,  \\e  find  that 
there  was  an  intelligent  race,  with  artistic  tastes,  living 
in  a  country  now  so  intensely  cold  as  to  be  uninhabi- 
table to  all  but  a  few  misei-able  nomad  Tartars. 

At  Spiennes,  near  Mons,  a  field  was  discovered, 
known  as  the  vaiap  des  cayaiix,  strewn  \vith  flints, 
some  uncut,  others  hewn,  together  with  knives  and 
hatchets   innumerable.      There  were   also   centres  of 


INDUSTRY. 


237 


manufacture  at  Hoxne  and  Braudou,  in  England,  at 
Bellaiia  in  Bologna,  and  at  Rome  on  the  Tiburtine 
Way.  At  Ponte-Molle,  wliei-e  worked  flints  were  dis- 
covered for  the  first  time  in  Italy  a  few  years  ago,  a 
workshop  was  found,  remarkable  for  the  great  number 
of  stags'  antlers,  from  which  the  middle  pai't  had  been 
removed,  doubtless  to  be  used  as  handles  for  tools. 
M.  de  Rossi,  who  gives  us  these  details,  thinks  that 


Fig.  71. — -Bron/e  objects  fmiiid  at  Krasnojarsk  (Siberia). 

this  station  was  iidiabited  in  the  Palaeolithic  period. 
In  the  settlement  of  Concise  have  been  found  not  only 
stone  implements,  but  a  great  many  articles  made  of 
bone,  so  that  this  place  was  evidently  an  important 
manufacturing  centre.  Knives,  stilettos,  and  jutow- 
heads  were  turned  out  here,  and  in  the  hands  of  skil- 
ful workmen  the  tusks  of  the  boars,  which  abounded 
at  this  time  in  Switzerland,  were  converted  into  ex- 
cellent chisels. 


238  PREHISTOKIC  PEOPLES. 

To  name  the  districts  where  tools  were  manufac- 
tured ill  preliistoric  times  in  France  would  be  to  give 
a  list  of  all  the  departments.  In  the  commune  of 
Saint-Julien  du  Saut  we  find  a  large  manufactory 
where  every  division  of  the  Stone  age  is  fully  repre- 
sented, from  the  time  of  the  simply  chipped  hatchet 
to  that  of  the  polislied  implement  of  rare  perfection. 
Everything  bears  witness  to  the  prolonged  residence 
of  man  in  a  neigh ])orhood  Avhich  offered  the  attrac- 
tion of  vast  deposits  of  chalk  with  bands  t)f  flint  that 
supplied  alike  weapons  and  tools.  Amongst  others, 
we  must  name  the  so-called  atelier  de  la  Treiche,  near 
Toul,  \vhich  extends  for  an  area  of  about  a  hundred 
acres,  that  of  Bonaruc,  near  Dax  ;  surrounded  by  waste 
lands  covered  with  a  scanty  vegetation ;  that  of 
Rochebertier  (Charente),  which  probably  dates  from 
the  Madeleine  period  ;  and  that  of  Ecorche-Bceuf,  near 
Perigueux.  The  Abbe  Cochet  tells  us  of  an  atelier  in 
the  Aulne  valley,  and  Maurice  Sand  of  another  near 
LaChatre,  where  we  meet  with  the  most  ancient  traces 
of  man  in  Berry.  In  the  fields,  near  an  alignment  not 
far  from  Autun,  were  picked  up  numbers  of  hatchets 
of  hard  I'ock,  barlied  arrows,  flakes  of  flint  ^vorked  into 
scrapers  or  chisels,  whilst  near  them  were  the  very 
polishers  on  which  they  had  been  pointed. 

We  have  just  spoken  of  polishers,  and  we  said  some 
time  ago  that  it  was  by  prolonged  I'ubbing  that  the 
remarkable  weapons  of  Neolithic  times  were  produced. 
AVe  must  add  now  that  a  whole  series  of  the  polishers 
used  are  to  be  seen  on  the  ris^ht  bank  of  the  Loiuix, 
near  Nemours ;  one  of  which  is  a  regular  table  (Fig. 
72),  on  ^vhich  can  be  made  out  no  less  than  fifty 
grooves  and  twenty-five  cup-like  depressions. 


Y. 


M 


240  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

One  would  have  exjjected  to  find  the  ground  near 
these  polishers  covered  with  flakes  of  flint  and  pieces 
of  tools  of  all  kinds,  but  nothing  of  the  kind  has  been 
discovered ;  a  fact  which  leads  us  to  suppose  that  the 
workmen  only  came  down  into  the  valley  to  finish  off 
their  weapons  by  polishing  them. 

At  the  period  we  are  considering  all  the  continents 
were  peopled,  and  we  must  repeat,  fur  it  is  the  most 
important  point  of  our  present  study,  that  the  civiliza- 
tion attained  to  by  the  inhabitants  was  everywhere 
almost  identical.  Thus  we  find  centres  of  manufacture 
similar  to  those  of  Europe  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains 
of  Tunis  and  of  Algeria.  In  one  of  the  latter,  at 
Hassi  al  E-hatmaia,  the  knives  were  piled  up  in  one 
place,  the  scrapers  in  another,  and  the  arrow-heads  in 
a  third.  In  this  disposition  M.  Kabourdin  thinks  he 
sees  a  sign  of  the  division  of  labor,  one  of  the  most 
important  features  of  modern  progress.  M.  Arcelin 
mentions  a  similar  dejjosit  on  the  summit  of  the  Jebel 
Kalabshee,  near  Esneh  in  Egypt,  and  a  few  years  ago 
another  was  found  in  Palestine,  near  the  ancient 
Berytus,  containing  gi-eat  numbers  of  hatchets,  saws, 
scrapers,  and  all  the  implements  characteristic  of  the 
Stone  age  ;  whilst  amongst  them  lay  the  blocks  from 
which  they  had  Ijeen  cut.  Asia  Minor  was  evidently 
an  important  manufacturing  centre  during  the  Stone 
age,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  it  must  liave  had  a 
considerable  population  ;  and  even  in  America  dis- 
coveries of  similar  extent  have  been  made.  At 
Kinosha,  in  Wisconsin,  Laphani  made  out  a  manu- 
factory of  flint  and  quartzite  arrow-heads,  which  dates 
from  pi'ehistoric  times,  and  ([uite  recently  a  yet  more 
impoi'tant  centre  of  industry  has  been  discovered  at 
St.  Andrew  (Winnipeg). 


INDUSTRY.  241 

Tlie  manufactories  of  Spiennes  and  Brandon  deserve 
special  notice,  as  they  show  us  how  our  ancestors  got 
the  flint  they  used  instead  of  metal.  At  Spiennes/ 
tlie  excavations  were  begun  in  the  open  air,  then  the 
chalk  containing  the  flint  was  reached  by  the  sinking 
of  vertical  shafts,  many  of  which  were  as  much  as 
forty  feet  in  depth.  These  shafts  were  connected 
with  each  other  by  galleries  running  in  eveiy  direction, 
])ut  always  following  the  belts  of  flints.  Cuttings 
have  brought  to  light  the  very  implements  of  the 
ancient  miners.  They  were  of  the  simplest  description, 
such  as  picks  made  of  stag-horn  and  heavy  stone 
hammers,  all  alike  bearing  marks  of  long  service.^ 

Similar  results  were  obtained  in  England.  Canon 
Green^vell  explored  near  Brandon,  in  Suffolk,  a  series 
of  254  shafts,  known  in  the  neighborhood  as  Grime's 
Graves.  As  at  Spiennes,  the  shafts  were  connected  by 
galleries  from  three  to  five  feet  high,  and  one  of  them 
was  twenty-seven  feet  long.  The  shafts  and  galleries 
had  been  hollowed  out  with  the  help  of  picks  exactly 
like  those  found  in  Belgium ;  seventy-nine  were  picked 
up  that  had  been  thrown  away  by  the  \vorkmen.^ 

Some  few  years  ago  MM.  Cartailhac  and  Boule 
discovered  one  of  these  piimitive  quarries  at  Mui*  de 
Ban-ez,  the  chief  town  of  the  department  of  Aveyron.* 

They  made  out  eight  shafts  in  the  face  of  a  layer  of 
limestone  some  eighty-one  feet  long,  and  at  every  turn 
of  their  excavations  they  came  to  fresh  shafts.     These 

'  Munck  has  just  discovered  a  similar  station  at  Oburg  (Hainault),  where 
similar  implements,  produced  by  similar  processes  as  those  at  Spiennes,  were 
discovered. 

•  Briart,  Cornet,  and  Houzeau  :  Rapport  stir  les  de'cotivertes  faites  a  Spiennes 
en  iS6f.     Malise  :  Biil.  Acad,  royalc  dc  Belgique. 

*  youriial,  Ethnological  Society,  1878,  p.  419. 

^  Academic des  Sciences,  Nov.,  18S3.  Mat.  Jan.,  1884.  Nature^lMna  18,  1S87. 
z6 


242 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


shafts  opened  out  towards  tlie  top  like  funnels,  and 
they  were  not  more  than  three  feet  three  inches  below 
the  surface,  the  flint  having  been  struck  at  that  depth 
(Fig.  73).  These  shafts  were,  in  many  cases,  con- 
tinued by  galleries,  as  seen  in  our  illustration  (Fig. 
74),  or  by  trenches,  where  the  light  is,  however,  more 
or  less  shut  out  by  small  landslips. '  It  is  still  easy,  in 
spite  of  this,  to  make  out  the  floor  of  the  mine,  for 
it  is  trodden  hard  by  the  feet  of  the  ancient  miners. 


.6a8mSl 


Ifc.l  m  J~ 


Fig.  73. — Section  of  a  flint  mine  ;  t  vegetable  earth, 
Marly  limestone,  s  flint. 


pure  limestone,  c  in 


Traces  of  charcoal,  too,  reveal  the  path  they  took,  and 
we  learn  at  the  same  time  that  they  used  fire  to  help 
them  in  their  work. 

M.  Boule,^  from  whom  we  borrow  these  details,  can- 
not restrain  his  astonishment  at  the  practical  knowl- 
edge shown  by  these  prehistoric  miners.  He  tells  us 
that  they  sometimes  left  the  flint  standing  as  pillars  at 
pretty  short  intervals,  or  they  propped  up  the  galleries 
with  even  more  resistant  material,  cementing  them  with 

'  Nature,  June  16,  1887. 


INDUSTRY. 


243 


clay  or  with  calcareous  earth  taken  from  the  deti'itus. 
In  spite  of  these  precautions,  landslips  frequently  oc- 
curred, and  implements  of  stag-horn  (Fig.  75)  have  often 
been  flattened  by  the  fall  of  the  roof  of  tlie  gallery. 
It  is  really  curious  to  find  implements  of  an  exactly 
similar  kind  used  for  exactly  similar  purposes  at 
Spiennes,  Brandon,  Mur  de  Barrez,  and  at  Cissbuiy,  to 
which,  however,  we  shall  have  to  refer  again.  In  the 
shafts  of  Aveyi'on,  as  in  those  of  England,  the  marks 


Fig.  74. — Plan  of  a  gallery,  half  destroyed  in  making  the  excavation  which 
revealed  its  existence.  G  gallery  still  visible  ;  G'  gallery  destroyed  by  the 
excavation. 

of  blows  of  the  picks  are  still  to  be  seen,  and  in  many 
cases  a  flint  oi*  horn-pick  point  is  still  imbedded  in  the 
rock  or  limestone,  as  if  the  miner  had  but  just  left  his 
work. 

In  this  last  example  of  what  has  been  done  in 
France,  we  must  also  add  that  of  the  shafts  of  Nointel 
(Oise)  and  those  discovered  in  Maine  by  M.  de  Baye, 
in  both  of  which  were  found  nodules  of  flint  in  diffei'- 
ent  stages  of  preparation,  together  with  some  stag- 
horn  picks.     In  none  of  these   excavations  was  any 


244  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

metal  implement  foiiiKl,  or  any  trace  of  the  use  of 
metal,  so  that  we  must  conclude  that  the  mines  date 
from  Neolithic  times, 

We  have  seen  how  man  gradually  brought  to  perfec- 
tion the  tools  and  weapons  ^vhicli  ^vere  at  first  so 
clumsy.  The  growth  of  industry  led  to  the  birth  of 
commerce,  or,  to  speak  more  accurately,  to  that  of 
barter.  From  the  time  of  tlie  earliest  mii2:rations  inter- 
course  was  begun,  or  rather  was  carried  on,  between  the 
tribes,  as  they  gradually  dispersed,  often  travelling 
considerable  distances  from  each  other,  and  fresh 
proofs  of  these  relations  are  continually  brouglit  to 
light  as  we  become  better  acquainted  with  prehistoric 
times.  The  flints  worked  by  the  cave-men  of  Belgium, 
the  fossil  shells  so  numerous  at  Chaleux,  in  the  Frontal 
and  Nuton  caves,  at  Thayngen  on  the  frontier  between 
Switzerland  and  Germany,  in  Italy,  in  the  stations  of 
anterior  date  to  the  terremare  beds,  have  been  found 
the  shells  of  the  pearl  oyster  of  the  Indian  Ocean, 
whilst  in  the  caves  of  the  south  of  France,  such  as  the 
Madeleine,  that  of  Cro-Magnon,  Bize  in  Herault,  and 
Solutre  on  the  banks  of  the  Saone  have  been  picked  up 
the  shells  of  Arctic  marine  mollusca.  The  cave-man  of 
Gourdan  was  decked  with  shells  from  the  Mediter- 
ranean, and  the  man  of  Mentone  in  his  turn  wore  a 
head-dress  made  of  Atlantic  shells.  Fossil  shells  were 
also  much  souglit  after;  we  have  alluded  to  those 
from  Cliampagne  found  in  Belgium ;  others  from  the 
shell-marl  of  Touraine  and  Anjou  had  been  taken  into 
the  caves  of  Perigord,  whilst  sea-urchins  from  the 
cretaceous  strata  of  the  south  of  France  were  found  in 
a  prehistoric  station  of  Auvergne,  and  M.  Massenat 
picked  up  at  Laugerie-Basse  two  specimens  of  a  species 


Yic,.   75.— ricks,  hammers, 


ami  mattocks  made  of  stag-horn. 


245 


246  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

not  met  with  anywhere  but  in  the  Eocene  deposits  of 
the  isle  of  Wight.  The  Neolithic  station  of  Cham- 
pigny,  near  Paris,  has  yielded  some  objects  from  the 
Alps,  and  from  Belgium,  from  the  Vosges  Mountains, 
and  the  Puy  de  Dome. 

In  the  caves  of  Perigord  were  also  found  fragments 
of  hyaline  quartz,  which  must  have  been  bi'ought  from 
the  Alps  or  the  Pyrenees.  In  Brittany  and  in  Marne 
flints  foreign  to  these  granite  districts  are  numerous ; 
and  Dr.  Prunieres  tells  us  that  similar  discoveries  were 
made  under  the  megalithic  monuments  of  France,  and 
that  neither  in  the  eroded  limestone  districts  of  Lozere, 
ki)own  locally  as  le%  causses,  nor  under  the  dolmens 
of;  Haute- Vienne,  were  found  any  but  implements  made 
ofj  rock  not  native  to  the  coimtry. 

'Hatchets,  daggers,  and  nuclei,  or  as  they  are  charac- 
teristically called  by  the  country  peope  livres  de  heurre, 
from  Grand-Pressigny,  have  been  picked  up  in  the 
bed  of  the  Seine,  at  Limagne  in  Auvergne,  in  Brittany, 
at  Saint  Mcdard  near  Bordeaux,  oh  the  banks  of  the 
Meuse,  and  even  as  far  north  as  the  Shetland  Islands. 
At  Concise  was  found  red  coral  from  the  Mediterra- 
nean, whilst  the  yellow  amber  of  the  Baltic  was 
picked  up  in  the  Lake  Dwellings  of  Switzerland,  be- 
neath the  dolmens  of  Brittany,  in  sepulchral  caves, 
such  as  those  of  Oyes  (Marne)  or  Lombrives  (Ariege), 
beneath  the  megalithic  tomb  of  La  Koquette,  at  Saint 
Pargoue  (Ilei'ault)  beneath  the  dolmen  of  Gi-ailhe 
(Gard),  at  Malpas,  and  at  Baume  (Ardeche).^     These 

'  Ileilbig  :  "  Osservazioni  sopra  il  Commercio  del  I'Ambra  "  {Acad,  dei 
Lined).  We  must  not  confound  the  yellow  amber  of  the  Baltic  with  the 
red  amber  found  in  Italy,  in  tlie  mountains  of  Lelianon,  and  even  in  some 
lignites  in  the  south  of  France.  Sadowski :  "  Le  Commerce  de  I'Ambre  chez 
les  Anciens. " 


COMMERCE  AND   SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION.  247 

are  nearly  all  Neolithic  tombs,  though  some  few  of 
them  may  date  from  the  beginning  of  the  Bronze  age ; 
but  the  cave-men  of  France  o\vned  amber  even  earlier 
than  this,  for  five  fragments  liave  been  found  in  the 
Aurensan  Cave  near  Bao:neres-de-Bi2:ori'e,  which  was 
inhabited  in  Paheolithic  times.  Jadeite  and  nephrite  ' 
are  met  with  in  the  Lake  Dwellino-s  of  Switzerland  and 
Bavaria,  as  in  the  caves  of  Liguria  and  Sardinia ; 
chloromelanite  '  in  Fi'ance,  and  obsidian  ''  in  Lorraine, 
in  the  island  of  Pianosa  and  in  the  Cyclades.  AYe 
have  already  spoken  of  the  calaite  *  found  beneath 
the  dolmens  of  Brittany,  and  we  may  add  now  that 
it  has  also  been  found  in  the  caves  of  Portufjal  and 
beneath  the  megalithic  monuments  of  the  south  of 
Fi'ance. 

Commerce  developed  rapidly  during  Neolithic  times, 
and,  as  far  as  we  can  make  out  from  ti'aces  left,  its 
course  was  fi'om  the  southeast  to  the  northwest. 
Streams  and  rivers  were  followed  by  merchants  as 
by  emigrants,  and  at  an  exti-emely  remote  date  the 
sea  no  longer  arrested  the  journeys  of  men.  At  a 
I'ecent  meeting  of  the  British   Anthropological  Insti- 

'  Nephrite  is  found  in  Turkestan,  in  Siberia,  and  in  New  Zealand.  Deposits 
of  jadeite  are  known  in  Burmah,  Jeannetay,  and  Michel. — "  Note  sur  la  Ne- 
phrite ou  Jadede  Siberie"  {Bid.  Soc.  MinJralogiijue  de  France,  1881).  Meyer: 
"  Die  Nephritfrage  kein  ethnologische  Problem,"  Berlin,  1882. 

"^  Objects  made  of  chloromelanite  have  been  picked  up  in  thirty-eight  of  the 
departments  of  France.  No  deposit  of  it  is  known  now. — Fischer  and  Da- 
mour  :  Rev.  Arch.,  1S77. 

^  Obsidian  is  chiefly  found  in  the  mines  and  quarries  of  Terro  de  las  Navajas 
(Mexico),  known  in  the  time  of  the  Aztecs.  Deposits  have  also  lately  been  dis- 
covered in  Hungary  and  the  island  of  Melos. 

■*  Calaite  differs  from  the  turquoise  by  an  equivalent  of  aluminium  ;  it  was 
described  by  M.  Damour  in  1864.  It  is  said  that  traces  of  it  have  been  found 
in  the  tin  mines  of  Montebras,  which  appear  to  have  been  worked  from  pre- 
historic times. — Mat.,  1S81,  p.  166,  etc.  Cartailhac:  Bui.  Soc.  Anth.,  1881, 
p.  295. 


248  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

tute,  Miss  Bucklaud  dwelt  on  the  resemblance  in  the 
material,  shape,  and  ornamentation  of  a  golden  cup 
found  in  Cornwall,  to  other  cups  found  at  Mykense 
and  at  Tarquinii,  and  maintained  that  the  Cornish  cup 
must  have  been  the  work  of  the  same  artisans,  and 
have  been  brought  by  commerce  from  vs^hat  was  then 
the  extremity  of  the  known  world. 

It  is  not  only  in  Europe  that  we  can  trace  the  rela- 
tions established  between  men  separated  by  vast  dis- 
tances, by  oceans,  and  by  apparently  impassable 
deserts.  The  shells  of  the  Atlantic  and  those  of 
the  Pacific,  the  copper  of  Lake  Superior,  the  mica 
of  the  AUeghanies,  and  the  obsidian  of  Mexico  lie 
together  beneath  the  tumuli  of  Ohio,  and  quite  re- 
cently Mr.  Putnam  exhibited  to  the  Society  of  An- 
tiquaries a  collection  of  jade  celts  and  ornaments, 
some  from  Nicaragua,  others  from  Costa  Rica,  and  a 
hatchet  with  both  edges  sharpened  from  Michigan. 
No  deposit  of  jade  has  so  far  been  discovered  on  the 
Ameiican  continent,  so  that  we  can  only  suppose  these 
ol^jects  to  have  been  brought  from  Asia  at  an  unknow^n 
date.  The  marks  they  retain  of  having  been  rubbed 
up,  and  the  holes  made  in  them  to  hang  them  up,  show 
what  store  was  set  by  them. 

Monuments  of  many  kinds  scattered  over  different 
countries,  weapons  and  implements,  relics  as  they  are 
of  a  remote  past,  enable  us  to  gain  a  closer  insight  into 
the  manners,  customs,  and  mode  of  life  of  our  ancestors 
of  the  Stone  age.  We  can  picture  their  daily  life, 
which  we  know  to  have  been  one  long  struggle,  with- 
out break  or  truce,  for  they  had  to  contend,  not  only 
with  wild  animals  but  with  each  other,  to  fight  for  the 
use  of  their  caves  of  refuge,  for  their  hunting  fields, 


PIGHTS  AND    WOUNDS. 


249 


and  for  tlieir  watercourses ;  and  later,  the  first  step- 
herds  had  to  do  battle  for  the  pasturage  necessary  for 
their  flocks.  It  is  only  too  certain  that,  from  the  earli- 
est dawn  of  humanity,  men  gave  way,  without  any 
effort  at  self-control,  to  their  brutal  passions.  The 
right  of  the  strongest  was  the  only  law,  and  where- 
ever  man  j^enetrated  his  course  was  marked  by  violence 
and  by  death.  One  of  the  femora  of  an  old  man  was 
found  in  the  celebrated  Cro-Magnon  Cave,  bearing  a 
deep  depression  caused  by  a 
blow  of  a  projectile,  and  on 
the  forehead  of  the  woman 
that  lay  beside  him  is  a  large 
wound  made  by  a  small  flint 
hatchet  (Fig.  76).  This  gash 
on  the  frontal  bone  pene- 
trated the  skull,  and  was 
probably  the  cause  of  death, 
but  not  of  sudden  death,  for 
round  about  the  wound  are 
marks  of  an  attempt  at  heal- 
ing it.^  According  to  Dr. 
Hamy,  many  of  the  bones  found  in  the  Sordes  Cave 
have  very  curious  wounds.  A  gaping  hole  on  the  right 
parietal  of  a  woman  must  have  been  a  terrible  wound 
(Fig.  77).  The  woman  of  Sordes,  like  that  of  Cro- 
Magnon,  must  have  survived  for  some  time ;  the  marks 
of  the  removal  of  splinters  of  bone,  which  can  quite 
easily  be  made  out,  leave  no  doubt  on  that  point.'^ 
In  the  Baumes-Chaudes  caves,  situated  in  that  part 


Fig.  76. — Cranium  of  a  woman,  from 
Cro-Magnon,  seen  full  face. 


'  Broca  :   "  Les  Ossements  des  Eyxies,"  Paris,  1868. 

*  Lartet  and  Chaplain-Duparc  :  "  Una  Sepulture  des  Anciens  Troglodytes  des 
Pyrenees." 


250 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


of  tLe  valle}^  of  tlie  Tarn  wliicli  })elongs  to  the  depart- 
ment of  Lozere,  Dr.  Prunieres  picked  np  numerous 
bones  bearing  scars,  characteristic  of  wounds  produced 
by  stone  weapons/  Some  fifteen  of  these  bones,  such 
as  the  right  and  left  hip  bones,  tibiae,  and  vertebra}, 
still  contain  flint  points  flung  with  sufiicient  force 
to  penetrate  deeply  the  bony  tissue.  Always  inde- 
fatigable in  his  researches.  Dr.  Prunieres  also  mentions 
havins:  found  in  the  cave  known  as  that  of  1! Homme 

Mort  bones  bearing  traces 
of  cicatrized  wounds,  and  he 
presented  to  the  Scientific 
Cono-ress  at  Clermont  a  hu- 
man  vertebra  found  beneath 
the  Aumede  dolmen  pierced 
with  an  arrow-head,  which 
is,  so  to  speak,  encased  in  the 
wound  by  the  formation  of 
bony  tissue. 

Of  the  nineteen  crania 
found  in  the  Neolithic  sepul- 
chi*e  of  Vaureal  two  show 
traces  of  old  wounds.  One 
of  them,  that  of  a  woman, 
has  three  different  scars,  two  of  Avhich  were  of  wounds 
that  had  healed,  whilst  the  third  in  the  occiput  was  a 
gaping  hole,  which  had  evidently  caused  death. 

A  sepulchral  cave  at  Nogent-les-Vierges  (Oise) 
contains  the  skeleton  of  a  man  with  a  wound  on  the 
forehead,  no  less  than  four  and  a  half  inches  long  by 


Fig.  77. — Skull  of  a  woman  found 
at  Sordes,  showing  a  severe  wound 
from  which  she  recovered. 


'  Bidl.  Soc.  Anih.,  1878,  p.  215.  The  Baumes-Chaudes  caves  are  the  most 
complete  charnel  houses  of  Neolithic  times  yet  discovered.  Dr.  Prunieres 
collected  in  them  as  many  as  three  hundred  skeletons. 


FIGHTS  AND    WOUNDS.  25  I 

three  broad.  This  man,  who  was  quite  young,  the 
sutures  being  still  very  apparent,  survived  this  seiious 
wound  for  some  time. 

The  Goui'dan  Cave  has  yielded  crania  and  jaws 
broken  by  blnnt  weapons,  whilst  on  other  crania  have 
been  made  out  scratches  and  stripes  which  could  only 
have  been  produced  after  the  hair  and  skin  had  been 
removed.  In  the  caves  of  the  Petit-Mori n  valley, 
M.  de  Baye  picked  up  some  human  vertebra?  pierced 
with  flints,  the  points  of  which  were  still  imbedded  in 
the  bones.  In  the  Villevenard  Cave  one  skull  was 
found  containing  three  arrow-heads  with  transverse 
points  imbedded  in  the  skull,  the  l)one  of  which  had 
closed  upon  them.  Another  arrow  was  lodged  between 
the  dorsal  vertebrae.  It  is  probable  that  tliese  arrows 
had  remained  in  the  wounds  ;  certainly  that  is  the 
simplest  way  to  account  for  their  position.  About 
two  miles  from  the  caves  of  which  we  have  been  speak- 
ing, M.  de  Baye  discovered  a  sepulchre  containing  thii'ty 
skeletons,  all  of  adult  and  strongly  built  individuals. 
The  bodies  were  laid  one  above  the  other,  and  sepa- 
rated ])y  large  flat  stones  and  a  thin  layer  of  earth. 
This  sepulchral  cave  contained  seventy  -  three  flint 
points.  A.S  in  the  case  of  Villevenard,  their  position 
leads  us  to  suppose  that  these  points  had  been  stick- 
ing in  the  flesh  of  the  bodies  when  they  were  interred, 
and  had  fallen  out  when  decomposition  set  in.  Prob- 
ably the  bodies  were  those  of  men  who  had  fallen 
victims  in  a  bloody  conflict  that  had  taken  place  in 
the  valley.  In  a  cave  at  the  station  of  Oyes,  was 
found  stretched  upon  a  bed  of  stones  a  skeleton  with 
a  piece  of  flint,  which  had  been  flung  with  great  force, 
imbedded  in  the  upper  part  of  the  humerus.     Kound 


252  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

about  the  wound  are  the  marks  of  many  attempts  at 
healing  it. 

Many  of  the  human  bones  found  in  the  Vivarais 
Cave  bear  traces  of  having  been  violently  fractured 
by  stone  weapons  with  tapering  points.  In  the  Chal- 
les  Cave  (Savoy)  lies  the  skeleton  of  a  woman  whose 
skull  was  fractured  l)y  a  flint  weapon,  but  in  this 
case  death  was  evidently  immediate,  at  least  if  we 
may  judge  from  the  fact  that  there  are  no  signs  of 
the  wound  having  received  any  treatment.  In  the  Cas- 
tellet  Cave,  a  human  vertebra  contained  the  weapon 
which  had  pierced  it,  ])ut  when  the  bone  was  touched 


Fig.  78. — Fragment  of  human  tibia  with  exostosis  enclosing  the  end  of  a  flint 

arrow. 

the  arrow-head  broke  off.  It  had,  however,  been  flung 
with  such  a  sure  hand  that  it  had  been  driven  ten 
inches  deep  into  the  bony  tissue.  Here,  too,  the 
absence  of  any  exostosis  proves  that  death  quickly 
followed  the  wound. 

In  other  cases  the  victims  seem  to  have  lived  for 
some  time.  We  have  already  spoken  of  wounds  in 
crania  that  had  healed,  and  we  may  add  that  a  few 
years  ago  a  human  bone  was  presented  to  the  Archaeo- 
logical Society  of  Bordeaux  which  still  retained  a 
flint  arrow-head  in  the  wound  it  had  made.  Traces 
could  clearly  be  made  out  of  the  inflammation  caused 


PIGHTS  AND   WOUNDS. 


25.3 


by  the  presence  of  the  foreign  body,  and  the  bony 
tissue  secreted  by  the  periosteum  had,  so  to  speak, 
taken  the  mould  of  the  arrow  (Fig.  78). 

In  the  cave  known  as  the  Trou  d' Argent  (Basses- 
Alpes)  amongst  the  bones  of  ruminants  and  carnivora, 
fragments  of  pottery  and  rubbish  of  all  kinds,  was  found 
a  piece  of  humerus  (Fig.  79)  pierced  at  the  elbow  joint 
and  very  neatly  cut  at  the  lower  end,  no  doubt  with  the 
help  of  some  of  the  implements  of  hard  rock  scattered 
about  the  cave.     The  position  of   this   human  bone 


Fig.  7g. — Fragment  of  human  humerus  pierced  at  the  elbow  joint,  found  in  the 

Trou  d' Argent. 


amongst  the  remains  of  animals  and  fragments  of  a 
meal,  points  to  its  being  a  relic  of  a  scene  of  cannibal- 
ism ;  adding  yet  another  proof  to  what  I  said  at  the 
beo-inniuo;  of  this  work. 

Similar  facts  are  reported  from  England  and  Grer- 
many.  Dr.  Wankel  mentions  an  interesting  pre- 
historic deposit  at  Prerau,  near  Olmutz,  amongst  the 
bones  of  animals  belonging  to  the  most  ancient  Quater- 
nary fauna,  such  as  the  mammoth,  the  cave-bear,  the 
cave-lion,  the  glutton,  and  the  arctic  fox ;  and  amongst 


254  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

clumsy  bone  and  ivory  weapons  and  ornaments  lie 
found  a  human  jaw  and  a  femur  covered  ^vitll  stride 
produced  by  flint  hatchets.  In  1801  Mr.  Cannington 
took  several  skeletons  from  a  barroNv  near  Heytesbury, 
the  skull  of  one  of  which  had  been  broken  with  a  blunt 
implement ;  and  Sir  R.  Hoare  speaks  of  a  skull  from 
tlie  neighborhood  of  Stonehenge  split  open  l)y  a  blow 
fi'om  one  of  these  formidable  weapons.  Several  crania 
taken  from  a  Ions;  barrow  at  West  Kennet  have  simi- 
lar  wounds. 

Similar  facts  were  noticed  at  Littleton-Drew,  atUley, 
at  Cotswold,  and  at  Rodmarten,  and  from  this  Dr.  Thur- 
mam  concluded  that  nearly  all  those  who  were  buried 
in  lon<2:  barrows  had  met  \\\\\\  a  violent  death,^  He 
speaks,  however,  of  one  skull  pierced  with  a  large  hole, 
the  edges  of  which  had  become  rounded  smooth,  show- 
ing the  action  of  a  recuperative  process,  and  proving 
that  the  injured  man  had  long  survived  his  serious 
wound.  In  1809,  a  farmer  of  Kirkcudbrightshire  set 
t(^  work  to  demolish  a  lai'ge  cairn  that  interfered  with 
his  tilling  of  the  soil,  and  ^vhich,  according  to  popular 
tradition,  was  the  tomb  of  a  Scotch  king.  In  taking 
away  the  earth  the  workmen  found  a  large  stone 
coffin,  in  which  lay  the  skeleton  of  a  man  of  great 
stature.  The  arm  had  been  almost  separated  from  the 
trunk  l)y  the  blow  of  a  diorite  hatchet,  a  broken  bit 
of  which  remained  imbedded  in  the  bone.^ 

One  of  the  few  crania  that  can  with  certainty  be  said 
to  have  belonged  to  Lake  Dwellers  of  Switzerland  was 

^  "In  a  large  proportion  of  the  long  barrows  I  have  opened,  the  skulls  ex- 
liumed  have  been  found  to  be  deft  apparently  with  a  blunt  weapon,  such  as  a 
club  or  stone  axe." — Archceologia,  vol.  xlii.,  ]>.  161,  etc. 

''■  Wilson  :  "  I'rehistoric  Annals  of  Scotland,"  2d  ed.,  vol.  i.,  p.  1S7. 


FIGHTS  AlVD    WOUNDS.  255 

found  at  Siitz,  near  Zniicli ;  tliis  skull  was  fractured 
at  the  back.  The  roundness  of  the  wound,  whicli  had 
l)een  serious  enough  to  cause  death,  has  led  authorities 
to  conclude  that  it  was  made  with  one  of  the  formida- 
ble pick-hammers,  so  many  of  which  were  found  in  the 
lake  of  Bienne/  Nilsson  speaks  of  a  human  cranium 
[)iei'ced  with  a  flint  ari'ow,  and  of  anothei',  lioth  found 
at  Tygelso  (Scandinavia),  containing  adai't  made  out  of 
the  antler  of  an  eland.'  At  Chauvaux,  at  Cesareda,  and 
Gibraltar  other  crania  have  been  found  bearins:  the 
marks  of  mortal  wounds,  and  if  we  cross  the  Atlantic 
we  meet  witli  similar  instances.  Lund  tells  us  that  at 
Lagoa  do  Sumidouro  crania  were  found  pierced  ^^'ith 
circular  tools,  whilst  near  them  lay  the  implements 
that  had  caused  death.''  At  Comox,  in  Vancouver 
Island,  a  skeleton  was  found  with  a  flint  knife  im- 
bedded in  one  of  the  bones,  and  at  Madisonville  (Ohio) 
another,  one  of  the  bones  of  which  was  pierced  by  a 
triangular  stone  arrow ;  whilst  beneath  a  mound  in  In- 
diana was  picked  up  a  skull  pierced  by  a  flint  arrow 
more  than  six  inches  long.  Excavations  at  Copiapo 
(Chili)  brought  to  light  the  skeleton  of  a  man  who 
had  sustained  no  less  than  eight  wounds  from  arrow^s. 
The  force  with  which  they  must  have  been  shot  is 
really  astonishing ;  one  had  broken  the  upper  jaw  and 
knocked  out  several  teeth,  penetrating  to  the  brain ; 
and  others  were  still  sticking  in  the  vertebrae  and  ribs.'* 
In  the  New  as  in  the  Old  World  man  survived 
many  of  these   horrible   wounds,  and   a    skull  found 

'  Keller:   "  Pfahlbauten,"  Siehentcr  Bcrichi,  p.  27,  Zurich,  1S76. 
*  "  Habitants  Primitifs  de  la  Scandinavia,"  pp.  212  and  213. 
^  "  On  the  Occurrence  of  F"ossil  Bones  in  South  America." 
■*  yournal  AuiJn-opological  Society,  May,  1882. 


256  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

under  a  mound  near  Devil's  River  shows  a  serious 
wound  inflicted  many  years  before  deatli,  and  one  of 
the  Peruvian  crania  in  tlie  Peabody  Museum  bears  a 
long  frontal  fracture,  doubtless  produced  by  the  vio- 
lent blow  of  a  club  ;  the  five  or  six  fragments  still  to 
be  made  out  are,  so  to  speak,  solidified,  and  the  wounded 
man  had  evidently  lived  on  for  many  years,  thanks  ap- 
parently to  his  good  constitution  alone,  for  there  are  no 
signs  of  the  performing  of  any  surgical  operation,  such 
as  the  I'emoval  of  the  splinters  of  bone,  for  instance.^ 

In  1884  a  human  vertebra,  with  an  arrow-head 
imbedded  in  it,  was  picked  up  on  the  island  of  Santa 
Cruz.  The  apophysis  was  broken,  and  the  extent  of 
the  fracture  shows  the  great  force  of  the  blow.  The 
victim  evidently  died  of  the  wound,  for  there  is  no 
sign  of  its  having  been  healed. 

I  have  dwelt  upon  these  deaths  and  wounds  in  spite 
of  the  inevitable  monotony  of  such  a  list,  not  because 
I  wish  to  bring  into  prominence  the  fact  that  from  the 
earliest  times  the  stru2:o;le  for  existence  was  fierce  and 
bloody,  but  because  I  am  anxious  to  prove  that  in 
these  remote  days  an  organized  and  intelligent  society 
had  grown  up.  No  one  could  have  survived  such 
wounds  as  we  have  described,  but  for  the  care  and 
nursing  of  those  around  him,  such  as  the  other  mem- 
bers of  his  family  or  of  his  tribe.  The  wounded  one 
must  have  been  fed  by  others  for  months ;  nay  more, 
he  must  have  been  carried  in  migrations,  and  his  food 
and  resting-place  must  have  been  prepared  for  him. 
Moreover,  and  this  is  of  even  yet  more  importance  to 
our  argument,  they  must  have  been  men  able  to  treat 
wounds  and  to  set  bones. 

'  Wyman  :  Report  PcahoJy  Musciii/i,  1874,  p.  40. 


TREPA  NA  TION.  257 

This  last  fact  lias  been  proved  beyond  a  doubt  by 
the  discovery  of  numerous  bones  with  the  old  wounds 
completely  cicatrized.  "  In  several  examples,"  says 
Dr.  Prunieres,  speaking  in  this  connection,  "we  can 
make  out  the  fractures  set  with  a  neatness  which  gives 
us  a  very  high  opinion  of  the  skill  of  the  Neolithic 
bone  setters.  Tlie  setting  of  one  fracture  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  tibia  and  of  another  at  the  neck  of  the 
femur,  are  not  inferior  to  what  we  should  expect  from 
the  most  skilful  surgeons  of  the  globe."  ^  A  remark- 
able fact  truly,  but  one  often  met  with  in  the  most 
widely  separated  regions  of  the  earth,  the  importance 
of  which  cannot  be  overrated,  and  justifies  the  giving 
of  a  few  more  details. 

In  1873  Dr.  Prunieres,  to  whom  science  has  reason 
to  be  very  grateful  for  his  singular  discovery,  presented 
to  the  members  of  the  French  Association,  in  session  at 
Lyons,  a  human  parietal  with  a  rounded  piece  of  bone 
let  into  it.  This  piece  of  bone  was  rather  larger  than 
a  five-franc  jiiece,  and  the  skull  into  which  it  had  been 
fixed  was  found  beneath  the  Lozere  dolmen.  A  large 
opening,  some  three  inches  in  diameter,  the  edges 
of  which  were  worn  smooth,  had  been  made  in  this 
skull,  and  the  piece  of  bone  let  into  it  was  thicker  than 
the  skull  itself,  as  well  as  different  in  color,  the  cranium 
being  dark  and  the  foreign  piece  of  bone  pale  yellow. 
It  was  evident  therefore  that  the  two  pieces  did  not  be- 
long in  life  to  one  person,  and  that  the  rounded  piece  had 
been  cut  out  of  some  other  skull.  The  following  year 
Dr.  Prunieres  added  fresh  details  about  other  rounded 


'  This  skill  was  not  always  shown,  for  Dr.  Topinard  speaks  of  a  femur  found 
at  Feigneux  which  had  been  so  clumsily  set  that  one  part  greatly  overlapped 
the  other. — Bid.  Soc.  Aiith.,  p.  534. 
»7 


258  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

pieces  of  skull  that  Le  Lad  discovered  let  into  crania, 
some  of  which  pieces  had  evidently  been  introduced 
during  the  life  of  the  patient,  who  had  died  under  the 
operation  of  trepanation,  whilst  others  had  1)een  put  in 
after  death.  Dr.  Prunieres  in  every  case  speaks  of 
roridelles  or  rounded  pieces  of  skulls,  and  we  prefer  to 
(piote  him  exactly,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  trepana- 
tion was  sometimes  done  with  elliptical,  triangulai*,  or 
even  pyramidal  pieces  of  bone. 

Later  no  less  than  sixty  fresh  examples,  corroborat- 
ing Dr.  Prunieres'  discoveries,  were  found  in  the 
Baumes-Chaudes  caves,  and  Broca  in  his  turn  I'eported 
the  finding  of  three  crania  in  the  cave  of  L^ Homme  Mort, 
from  which  gi'eat  pieces  had  been  taken  which  had  evi- 
dently not  been  lost  by  accident. 

From  this  time  excavations  and  discoveries  made 
under  Dr.  Prunieres  succeeded  each  other  rapidly.  In 
1887  his  collection  contained  167  crania  or  fragments 
of  crania,  all  perforated,  115  of  which  were  picked  up 
in  the  caves  of  Lozere,  which  are  probably  of  more 
recent  date,  beneath  the  dolmens  of  the  devezes^  as 
those  vast  plains  given  up  to  pasturage  are  called. 
These  dolmens,  which  were  doubtless  reserved  for  the 
burial  of  chiefs,  often  contain  many  valuable  objects. 
Beneath  one,  for  instance,  were  found  fifteen  beautiful 
darts  of  variegated  fiint,  four  polished  boars'  tusks, 
some  schist  pendants,  some  shells  cut  into  the  shape  of 
teeth,  some  bone  and  stone  necklace  beads,  and,  lastly, 
two  small  bronze  beads.  These  last-named  objects 
justify  us  in  dating  the  dolmen  fi'om  the  Bronze  epoch, 
when  the  use  of  bronze  began  to  spread  over  the  dis- 
trict, though  it  was  still  not  generally  employed. 

Attention  once  awakened,  similar  facts  began  to  be 


TREPANA  TION. 


259 


announced  from  many  different  quarters.  In  the 
Neolithic  caves  of  Marne  were  found  skulls  with 
rounded  holes  in  them,  pieces  of  skull  such  as  are 
shown  in  Fig.  28,  which  were  probably  worn  as  amulets. 
M.  de  Baye  has  in  his  fine  collection  more  than  twenty 
examples  of  trepanation,  one  of  which  is  shown  in 
Fig.  80.  In  nearly  every  case  the  operation  had  been 
performed  after  death  ;  three  examples  alone  show  it  to 
have  been  done  during  life,  and  that  the  patient  cer- 
tainly survived,  for  the  wound  shows  very  evident 
signs  of  having  healed, 
and  the  edges  of  the 
openings  no  longer 
bear  the  marks  of  the 
tool  of  the  ojierator. 
On  one  of  the  three 
crania  there  were  two 
wounds  near  each 
other,  but  they  were 
cpiite  separate,  and 
were  evidently  not 
treated  at  the  same 
time. 

A  tumulus  in  the  Gruisseny  commune  (Finist^re), 
excavated  about  two  years  ago,  covered  over  a  sepul- 
chral crypt.  At  the  southeastern  extremity  was 
picked  up  a  badly  baked  hand-made  earthenware 
vase  with  four  handles.  Beside  the  vase  lay  a  skull, 
on  which  could  be  made  out  traces  of  oxidation, 
which  had  probably  been  caused  by  the  wearing  of 
a  metal  band,  \\hich  has  not  been  found.  This 
skull  bears  on  the  right  side  a  little  oval  hole  with 
cicatrized    edges    about   an  inch    long   by  two    fifths 


Fin.  80. — Mesaticephalic  skull,  with  wound 
which  has  heen  trepanned. 


260  PREfllSTOKlC  PEOPLES. 

of  an  incTi  broad.  The  discovery  of  a  bronze 
dagger  and  two  bronze  plaques  leaves  no  doubt  as 
to  the  age  of  this  tumulus.  This  example  of  tre- 
panation is  the  only  well  authenticated  one  of  which 
I  know  in  Brittany.  It  is  true  one  skull  has  been 
mentioned  as  found  beneath  the  megalithic  monu- 
ment of  Saint-Picoux  de  Quiberon  (Morbihan),  which 
is  even  said  to  bear  marks  of  sawing  and  scraping 
made  in  attempting  trepanation,  but  this  fact  has 
been  very  much  questioned,  and  the  date  at  which 
the  trepanation  was  performed,  if  performed  it  were, 
is  very  doubtful.^  The  proof  we  are  seeking  of  the 
antiquity  of  the  operation  of  trepanation  is  not  thei'e- 
fore  to  be  found  here. 

On  a  plain  amongst  the  hills  of  the  right  bank 
of  the  Seine,  above  Paris,  rises  a  mound  resembling 
a  promontory  which  is  known  as  the  Guerin  mound, 
and  consists  of  a  vast  deposit  of  chalk  which  was 
excavated  long  ago.  Successive  operations  have 
brought  to  light  eight  caves,  most  of  which  con- 
tained a  number  of  human  I'emains,  which  were  un- 
fortunately dispersed  without  having  been  scientifi- 
cally examined.  One  alone,  opened  in  1874,  contained 
numerous  bones  belonging  to  individuals  of  every 
age  and  of  both  sexes,  with  polished  flints,  frag- 
ments of  pottery,  and  implements  of  stag-horn. 
Amono-st  these  relics  was  found  the  skull  of  an  old 
man  showing  a  very  curious  example  of  trepanation. 
It  was  unfortunately  broken  by  the  workmen  in  the 
very  moment  of  discovery,  and  could  only  be  very  in- 
sufficiently examined.    Other  examples,  however,  which 

1  Btd.  Soc.  Anth.,  1883,  pp.  258-301  ;  1885,  p.  412.    Bui.  Soc.  Polymatique 
du  Morbihan,  1883,  p.  12. 


TREPANA  TION. 


261 


could  be  properly  authenticated,  are  not  wanting  from 
the  banks  of  the  Seine  and  Marne ;  two  fragments  of 
skull  were  found  in  the  canton  of  Moret,  one  of  which 
had  been  trepanned  during  the  life  of  its  owner,  and 
the  other  after  death.  We  must  also  mention  the 
crania  presented  to  the  learned  societies  at  the 
Sorbonne,  one  of  which  came  from  the  plateau  of 
Avrigny,  near  Mousseaux-les-Bray  (Seine-et-Marne). 
Side  by  side  with  the  skeleton  lay  polished  hatchets, 
scrapers,  and  arrow  -  heads,  fragments  of  pottery 
blackened  by  smoke,  and  lastly  a  solitary  bone  of 
an  ox,  pierced  with  three  holes  at  regular  distances, 
which  had  probably  been  used  as  a  flute.  Of  nine 
crania  found  in  this  excavation  three  were  pierced, 
two  after  death  and  one  during  life,  the  edges 
of  the  last  named  bearing  very  evident  ti-aces  of 
ti'eatment. 

A  trepanned  skull  was  also  discovered  in  a  Neolithic 
sepulchre  near  Crecy-sur-Morin,  where  lay  no  less  than 
thirty  skeletons,  remarkable  for  the  strongly  defined 
section  of  the  tibiae,  whilst  around  were  strewn  hatch- 
ets, flint  knives,  bones,  stilettos  and  picks  of  siliceous 
limestone  with  handles  made  of  pieces  of  stag-horn. 
The  tomb,  built  of  stones  without  mortar,  contained 
two  contiguous  chambers  separated  by  a  wall,  and 
covered  over  by  a  stone  weighing  more  than  1,200 
tons.  It  seems  likely  that  this  huge  stone  had  not 
been  moved — it  must  have  been  beyond  the  strength 
of  the  makers  of  the  tomb  to  lift  it, — but  that  the 
spaces  beneath,  in  which  the  dead  had  been  placed, 
had  been  merely  hollowed  out.  In  the  covered 
Avenue  des  Mvreaux,  of  which  I  have  already  spoken, 
were  picked  up  several  trepanned  crania.     The  tools, 


262  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

scrapers,  and  piercers,  whicli  Lad  probably  been  used 
for  the  operation,  lay  near  the  crania. 

A  Neolithic  sepulchre  containing  three  trepanned 
crania  was  opened  at  Dampout,  near  Dieppe.  The 
operation  had  been  as  neatly  executed  as  if  it  had  been 
performed  by  one  of  our  most  distinguished  surgeons. 
As  at  Crecy,  the  sepulchral  crypt  was  divided  into  two 
chambers,  and  the  slab  between  them  was  pierced  with 
a  square  opening/ — a  fresh  example  of  the  curious 
practice  of  making  openings,  of  which  we  have  spoken 
in  treating  of  so  many  different  regions,  often  aj)par- 
ently  completely  cut  off  from  communication  with 
each  other. 

Beneath  the  Bougon  dolmen  (Deux-Sevres),  in  the 
west  of  France,  was  found  a  skull,  and  at  Lizieres  in 
the  same  department,  the  skeleton  of  a  tall  old  man 
with  a  dolichocephalic  skull  and  platycnemic  tibiae 
bearing  traces  of  old  wounds  badly  healed.  The  bony 
tissue  of  the  skull  was  in  an  unhealthy  state  and  the 
trepanation  had  evidently  been  part  of  medical  treat- 
ment. At  Saint-Martin-la-K-iviere  (Vienna),  a  tomb 
dating  from  Neolithic  times  contained  five  trepanned 
crania,  on  one  of  which  the  perforation  had  been  made 
by  scraping.  In  this  tomb  was  also  found  a  round 
piece  of  skull  with  a  hole  in  it,  ^vllicll  had  doubtless 
been  used  as  a  pendant.  The  other  objects  found  in 
this  sei)ulchre  were  of  a  remarkable  character,  and 
included  hatchets  made  of  coralline  limestone,  jade, 
fibrolite,  and  serpentine,  the  blades  of  flint  knives, 
arrows,  some  feathered,  others  stalked,  some  necklace 
beads,  and  a  number  of  vases,  some  apodal,  others  with 
flat  stands,  and  nearly  all  without  any  attempt  at  oi'ua- 

'  Nature,  January  2,  1886. 


TREPAN  A  TION,  263 

mentation.  Beneath  a  dolmen  near  St.  Affri(j^ue,  M. 
Cartailliac  discovered  a  skull  with  two  holes  in  it ;  one 
near  the  bregma,  which  had  been  made  during  life,  and 
the  other  on  a  level  with  the  lambda,  which  had  not 
been  made  until  after  death.'  AVe  cannot  now  note  the 
important  conclusions  founded  on  these  two  perfora- 
tions, we  must  be  content  with  adding  here  that  the 
tomb  contained  four  other  skeletons  with  crania  show- 
ing no  trace  of  trepanation ;  the  tibiae  were  platycnemic 
and  the  humeri  had  the  so-called  perforation  of  the 
oleci'anon  fasces,  which  certain  anthro[)ol()gists,  as  I 
think  without  sufficient  reason,  consider  characteristic 
of  inferior  races.  We  must  mention  yet  one  more  dis- 
covery which  it  will  not  do  to  omit.  A  human  [)arietal 
with  a  piece  missing  that  had  evidently  been  taken  out, 
was  found  beneath  the  rock-shelter  of  Entre-Roches 
near  Angouleme.  The  skull  bore  very  evident  traces 
of  the  performance  of  an  operation  which  may  or  may  not 
have  been  executed  during  life.  Was  it  done  to  remove 
the  diseased  bone — for  it  was  diseased — in  the  hope  of 
prolonging  life  ?  Did  the  patient  die  under  the  hands 
of  the  surgeon,  or  was  the  piece  of  bone  taken  out  after 
death  to  be  used  as  an  ornament  or  an  amulet  ?  Any 
one  of  these  hypotheses  is  possible,  and  all  we  can  say 
for  certain  is  that  there  is  no  sign  of  the  wound  having 
been  healed  in  any  svay.  This  is  a  common  thing- 
enough,  and  the  interest  of  the  discovery  arises  from  a 
different  cause.  The  rock-shelter  of  Entre-Roches  is 
su]_)posed  to  date  from  Palaeolithic  times,  and  if  it  were 
certain  that  there  has  been  no  displacement  of  the  soil 
on  which  the  parietal  was  found,  it  is  to  be  concluded 
that    trepanation    was   practised    in    the    Quaternary 

'  Bui.  Soc.  Anth.  de  Lyon,  1883-1884. 


264  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

period  when  man  was  living  amongst  the  large  extinct 
pachyclermata  and  felid^e.  But  it  will  be  difficult  to 
admit  tills  uuless  other  discoveries  confirming  it  are 
made.  If,  however,  we  cannot  prove  that  trepanation 
was  jDractised  in  France  in  Palaeolithic  times,  we  can 
assert  that  it  was  continued  down  to  the  earliest  cen- 
turies of  the  Christian  era.  One  remarkable  case  of 
trepanation  was  found,  for  instance,  in  the  Merovingian 
cemetery  near  St.  Quentin ;  and  a  trepanned  skull  was 
recently  exhibited  at  a  meeting  of  the  Anthropological 
Society  in  Paiis,  which  had  been  found  beneath  a 
Merovingian  tomb  at  Jeuilly.  The  patient  had  long 
survived  his  wound.  The  skeleton  was  found  in  a 
stone  trough,  naiTower  at  the  foot  than  at  the  head. 
The  skeleton  of  a  man  between  forty  and  fifty  years  of 
age  was  found  in  a  Frank  cemetery  at  Limet,  near 
Liege.  On  the  left  parietal  of  the  skull  was  an  oval 
hole  as  big  as  a  pigeon's  q(^^,  bearing  traces  of  having 
been  medically  treated.  The  patient,  like  the  man  of 
Jeuilly,  certainly  survived  the  operation.  His  tomb,  as 
were  the  resting-places  of  his  neighbors  in  death,  was 
covered  over  with  a  huge  unhewn  stone,  and  beside  him 
lay  another  skeleton.  A  few  nails  and  bits  of  wood 
were  the  only  things  found  in  the  tomb.  We  may  also 
mention  the  skeleton  of  a  Frank  of  between  fifty-five 
and  sixty-five  years  of  age  with  a  trepanned  skull, 
found  by  M.  Pilloy,  in  a  cemetery  of  the  St.  Quentin 
arro7idisse7nent,  which  also  contained  numerous  objects 
dating  from  the  sixth  century  a.d. 

So  far  we  have  only  spoken  of  France,  but  similar 
facts  are  reported  all  over  Europe,  and  the  difficulty 
really  is  to  make  a  selection.  Some  ]'ound  pieces  of 
skull,   like  those  of  Lozere,  have  been  picked  up  in 


TREPAN  A  TION.  265 

Umbi'ia^ ;  and  a  skull,  bearing  traces  of  an  ()})eration,  tlie 
aim  of  which  was  to  remove  a  portion  of  the  left  parietal, 
was  found  in  the  Casa  da  Mouva  (Portugal),, which 
dates,  as  do  so  many  in  France,  from  Neolithic  times. 

Goss  mentions  a  discovery  in  one  of  the  pile-dwell- 
ings of  Lake  Bienne,  of  a  skull  with  a  large  hole  in  it 
with  bevelled  eds^es.  There  is  no  trace  of  this  wound 
having  healed,  and  the  patient  had  evidently  died  soon 
after  the  operation. 

The  Prague  Museum  possesses  two  crania  found  at 
Bilin  in  Bohemia;  one,  of  a  pronounced  dolichoce- 
phalic type,  has  near  the  middle  of  the  right  parietal 
an  opening  measuring  one  and  a  half  by  two  and  a  third 
inches ;  the  cicatrization  is  complete,  and  trepanation 
was  evidently  [)erformed  long  before  death.  The  other 
is  mesaticephalic,  and  bears  a  I'ound  opening  about  one 
and  a  half  inches  in  diametei-.  Dr.  Wankel,  to  whom 
we  owe  these  details,  is  well  known  thi'ough  othei- 
discoveries;  his  excavations  in  the  Bytchiskala  Cave 
brought  to  light  the  skeleton  of  a  young  girl  of  ten  or 
twelve  years  old,  who  had  undergone  the  operation  of 
trepanation.  The  wound,  which  was  on  the  right 
side  of  the  forehead,  was  half  healed.  The  child  still 
wore  the  ornaments  she  had  been  fond  of  in  life — 
bronze  bracelets  and  a  necklace  of  large  glass  beads. 

Discoveries  of  a  similar  character  succeeded  each 
other  in  Bohemia,  and  in  nearly  every  case  the  opera- 
tion of  trepanation  had  been  performed  on  the  upper 
part  of  the  forehead.  Not  very  long  ago  it  was 
reported  to  the  Anthropological  Society  of  Berlin  that 
in  excavating  two  tombs  containing  the  remains  of 
burnt  bodies  at  Triipschutz,  on  the  west  of  Brux,  some 

'  Belluci :  Congres  Frdhistorique  de  Lisbonne,  1880,  p.  471. 


266  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

fragments  of  skull  were  picked  u[),  sli()\viiig  traces  of 
trepanation.  The  edges  of  the  wound  in  tliis  case  had 
been  healed,  and  the  patient  had  lived  on  after  the 
operation.  Professor  Virchow  came  to  the  same  con- 
clusion with  re2:ard  to  a  skull  from  a  Neolithic  tomb 
which  bore  on  the  right  parietal  traces  of  an  ancient 
cicatrized  wound.  He  also  tells  us  of  tlie  finding  in 
Poland  of  a  round  piece  of  skull  which  had  evidently 
been  woi*n  as  an  amulet.' 

In  the  north  of  Europe  similar  discoveries  have  been 
made.  At  Borreby,  in  Denmai'k,  a  skull  was  found 
from  Avhicli  large  pieces  had  been  taken ;  and  another 
from  beneath  a  dolmen  at  Noes,  in  the  island  of 
Falster,  had  a  hole  in  it  no  less  than  two  and  a  quarter 
by  one  and  three  <piarter  inches  in  size.  In  the  one 
case  the  holes  Avere  parts  of  a  wound  to  which  the 
victim  had  succumbed  ;  in  the  other  the  edsjes  were 
too  regular  to  have  been  caused  by  traumatism.  A 
Russian  skull,  a  cast  of  which  has  recently  been  pre- 
sented to  the  Italian  Anthropological  Society,  bears 
traces  of  two  trepanations;  one  pei-formed  during  life, 
the  other  after  death.  The  former  had  evidently  been 
caused  neither  by  illness  nor  by  a  wound. 

General  Faidherbe  discovered  at  Rokuia,  in  Algeria, 
two  trepanned  skulls,  dating  from  a  remote  antiquity, 
in  one  of  which  the  wound  is  half  an  inch  in 
diameter,  and  shows  no  sign  of  cicatrization ;  and 
travellers  speak  of  evident  traces  of  similar  operations 
on  skulls  dating  from  the  time  of  the  Ainos,  the  ances- 
tors or  predecessors  of  the  Japanese  at  the  present  day; 
and  if  ^ve  cross  the  Atlantic,  we  shall  meet  with  in- 

'  "  Uber  trepanirte   Schadel    von    Giebiechenstein  "   {J^erh.   der  Berliner 
Gesellscha/i /ur  Anih.,  1879,  p.  64). 


TREPA  NA  7  'ION.  267 

stances  of  trepauatioiis  executed  in  a  similar  manner, 
and  probably  for  similar  reasons. 

AVe  meet  with  numerous  examples  of  ti-epanation  in 
America,  and  fresh  discoveries  are  daily  made  by  the 
energetic  men  of  science  in  that  country.  Dr.  Mante- 
gazza^  mentions  three  examples  of  trepanation  from 
Peru,  which  are  of  very  great  interest.  One  skull, 
still  bound  up  in  many  cloths,  was  found  in  the  Sanja- 
Huara  Cave  (province  of  Anta),  which  had  been  twice 
trepanned,  and  on  which  yet  two  more  attempts  at  tre- 
panation had  been  made.  The  latter  seem  to  have 
taken  place  at  diiferent  times,  and  death  seems  to  have 
succeeded  the  last  operation.  Another  skull  which 
had  belonged  to  an  adult  of  Huarocondo  has  two 
frontal  openings  close  to  each  other ;  the  upper,  of 
elliptical  shape,  is  of  large  size  and  was  evidently  made 
after  death.  Yet  another  skull  from  the  province  of 
Ollantay-tambo  bears  a  double  trepanation,  evidently 
made  during  life.  The  healing  of  the  parietal  opening 
proves  that  it  was  made  before  the  wound  in  the  fore- 
head, in  which  the  edges  have  remained  rough.  Dr. 
Mantegazza  thinks  that  in  the  two  first  cases  the  opera- 
tions took  place  after  the  patient  had  been  wounded, 
but  that  in  the  third,  the  patient  operated  upon  had 
been  epileptic  or  perhaps  even  insane.  We  find  it 
difiicult  to  follow  the  learned  professor  here,  as  we  are 
ignorant  of  the  grounds  for  his  conclusions. 

We  give  an  illustration  (Fig.  81)  of  a  trepanned 
skull  found  in  a  cemetery  in  the  Yucay  valley.  A 
square  piece  has  been  cut  out  l)y  making  four  regular 
incisions.  The  bone  shows  traces  of  an  ancient  in- 
flammation,   and    many    eminent    surgeons,    including 

'  MaUriaux pour  V Histoire  de  V Homme,  Aout,  l886. 


268 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


Nclaton  and  Broca,  have  not  hesitated  to  attribute  the 
opening,  large  as  it  is  (seven  by  six  inches),  to  a 
surgical  operation.  If  the  incisions  are  carefully 
examined  it  is  easy  to  see  that  they  were  made  with 
the  help  of  a  pointed  instrument,  such  as  a  clumsily 
made  drill,  for  instance.  Each  incision  must  have 
taken  a  long  time  to  make,  and  we  note  with  ever- 
increasinic   astonishment    that    the    ancient    Peruvians 

were  not  acquainted 
with  the  use  of  iron  or 
steel,  and  that  the 
hardest  metal  they 
employed  was  bronze. 

A  few  years  ago  a 
sepulchre  was  opened 
at  Chaclacayo,  at  the 
foot  of  Mount  Chosica, 
not  far  from  Lima.  In 
this  toml)  lay  three 
mummies,  of  a  man,  a 
woman,  and  a  child. 
Near  them  lay  a  human 
skull,  havino^  about  the 
middle  of  the  forehead 
an  opening,  measuring  some  two  and  a  half  by  two 
inches.  It  is  of  polygonal  form,  and  eight  different 
incisions  can  easily  be  made  out,  which  appear  to  have 
been  made  with  some  notched  stone  implement.  On 
raising  a  strip  of  skin,  still  adhering  to  the  skull,  there 
was  seen  on  the  front  part  of  the  sagittal  suture  a  very 
small  perforation,  the  result  either  of  a  wound  or  of 
an  operation  which  had  taken  place  during  life.  It 
has  been  suggested  that  the  piece  of  bone  taken  from 


Fig.  Si. — Trepanned  Peruvian  skull. 


TREPAN  A  TION.  269 

the  skull  had  been  used  to  make  a  lance  or  arrow-head, 
which  was  siiperstitiously  supposed  by  the  owner  to 
ensure  his  victory.  This  is,  however,  a  mere  suggestion, 
of  which  no  proof  can  be  given. 

In  other  parts  of  America  discoveries  have  been 
made  of  trepanned  skulls,  supposed  to  date  from  even 
more  remote  times  than  those  we  have  just  been  con- 
sidering. A  few  years  ago  Professor  Putnam  found,  in 
the  State  of  Ohio,  some  old  wells  filled  with  cindei's 
and  rubbish  of  all  kinds.  From  one  of  them,  which 
was  deeper  than  the  others,  he  took  several  crania, 
some  of  which  bore  evident  traces  of  trepanation. 
From  a  mound  near  Dallas  ( Illinois  )  were  taken  more 
than  one  hundred  skeletons,  all  of  adults,  placed  side 
by  side  in  a  crouching  attitude.  Every  one  of  them 
had  a  round  opening  on  the  left  temple,  and  in  some 
of  these  wounds  the  flint  implement  which  had  pro- 
duced them  was  still  imbedded.  It  is  very  evident 
that  we  have  here  tokens  of  some  funereal  rite,  the 
meaning  of  which  is  luicertain,  though  it  was  evidently 
practised  also  in  districts  very  remote  from  Illinois. 
To  mention  yet  other  examples,  the  excavation  of  a 
tumulus  of  irregular  form  near  Devil's  River  (  Mich- 
igan )  has  bi'ought  to  light  five  skeletons  buried 
upright,  whilst  a  sixth  lay  in  the  centre  of  the  tumulus, 
which  was  evidently,  if  we  may  so  ex2:)ress  it,  the  jjlace 
of  honor.  On  each  of  the  six  crania  a  perforation  had 
been  made  after  death. 

A  number  of  crania  and  parts  of  crania  on  which 
trepanation  had  been  performed  have  also  been  taken 
from  several  mounds  on  Chamber's  Island,  from 
beneath  the  mound  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Sable  River,    near  Lake    Huron,   and    near   the  Red 


270  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

River.^  Grillman  thinks  tlmt  the  Michigan  trepanations, 
which  liad  been  made  with  chimsy  tools,  were  simply 
lioles  for  hanging  np  skulls  as  trophies,  as  is  still  cus- 
tomary amongst  the  Dyaks  of  Borneo ;  but  this  seems 
scarcely  a  tenable  hypothesis,  for  as  a  rule  the  skeletons 
lying  in  their  last  home  are  complete.  Quite  recently 
wei'e  discovered,  beneath  a  tumuhis  near  Rock  River, 
eight  skeletons,  tlie  skull  of  one  of  which  bore  a 
circular  perforation  made  during  life,  which  rather 
upsets  Gillman's  theory. 

But  to  resume  our  narrative.  The  trepanations 
reported  fi-om  North  America  are  generally  posthu- 
mous, and  we  can  prove  nothing  as  to  their  origin. 
Were  they  marks  of  honor  made  in  some  religious  rite  ? 
Were  they  openings  to  allow  the  spirit  of  the  depai-ted 
to  revisit  the  body  it  had  abandoned  ?  or,  to  suggest  a 
far  more  worldly  and  revolting  motive,  were  they 
merely  holes  through  which  to  pick  out  the  brains  of 
the  dead.  A  missionary,  in  a  letter  dated  fi'om  Fort 
Pitt  (Canada)  in  1880,  describes  the  mode  of  scalping 
pi-actised  by  the  Redskins,  and  says  that  they  often 
take  a  round  piece  of  skull  as  well  as  the  scalp.  May 
not  this  l)e  a  case  of  atavism,  or  the  transmission  of  a 
custom  from  one  generation  to  another,  for  the  origin 
of  which  we  must  go  back  to  the  most  remote  ages  ? 
In  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge,  insufficient  as  it 
is,  this  explanation  is  the  most  plausible. 

It  is  even  more  difficult  to  come  to  a  satisfactory 
conclusion  with  regard  to  European  examples  of  the 
practice  we   have  been  describing.     Trepanation  was 

'  American  Ass.,  Detroit,  1875,  NashviUe,  1877;  "Ancient  Men  of  the 
Great  Lakes";  "Additional  Facts  Concerning  Artificial  Perforation  of  the 
Cranium  in  Ancient  Mounds  in  Michigan."  See  also  on  this  question  generally 
Fletcher  "  On  Prehistoric  Trepanning  and  Cranial  Amulets,"  Washington,  18S2. 


TREPA  NA  TTON:  2  7 1 

certainly  practised  in  the  treatment  of  certain  diseases 
of  the  bone,  such  as  osteitis  or  caries.  Professor  Par- 
rot mentions  a  case  worth  quoting.^  A  few  years  ago 
sevei'al  skeletons  were  found  at  Bray-sur-Seine  (Seine- 
et-Marne)  with  numerous  objects,  such  as  polished 
stone  hatchets,  bone  stilettos,  sliell  necklaces  and  orna- 
ments, all  undoubtedly  Neolithic.  One  of  the  crania 
had  been  trepanned,  the  position  of  the  operation 
showing  that  its  object  had  been  to  treat  an  osteitis. 
The  operation  had  succeeded,  and  the  cicatrization  of 
the  bones,  both  about  the  wound  and  in  the  parts 
originally  affected,  shows  that  recovery  was  complete. 
This  is  the  only  example  Ave  have  of  an  operation  exe- 
cuted with  a  view  to  curing  a  disease  that  can  actually 
be  seen,  and  it  enables  us  to  conclude  that  these  men, 
of  whom  we  know  so  little,  had  some  notion  of  surgery. 
Were  trepanations  also  practised  to  cure  epilepsy  or  to 
heal  mental  affections  ?  Fi'om  the  earliest  times  the 
seat  of  these  ti'oubles  was  always  supposed  to  be  the 
bi'ain,  and  an  ancient  book  of  medicine  recommends  as 
a  remedy  the  scraping  of  the  outside  of  the  skull.'  In 
a  recent  book  ("  De  la  Trepanation  dans  I'Epilepsie 
par  le  Traumatisme  du  Crane  "),  Echeveri-ia  mentions 
several  cases  of  cure  by  trepanation  when  epilepsy  had 
been  the  result  of  an  injury.  Observation  may  have 
led  our  prehistoric  ancestors  to  discover  this.  May 
we  date  this  custom  then  from  prehistoric  times  ?  It 
is  very  difficult  to  decide  with  certainty  either  for  or 
against  it. 

Of  one   thing,  however,    we  may  be  quite  certain. 

^  Bui.  Soc.  Anth.,  February  17,  1881. 

^  Jehan  Taxil :    "  Traite   de   I'Epilepsie,   Maladie   Appelee  Vulgairemeiit  la 
Cioultcte  ai:x  i\tits  Enfants." 


272  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

The  cranial  perforations  so  much  like  one  another 
reported  from  districts  so  remote  and  different  in  char- 
acter, cannot  be  accidental.  It  is  impossible  to  attrib- 
ute to  chance  the  occurrence  of  injuries  of  exactly  the 
same  size  in  crania  of  totally  different  origins.  Setting 
aside  the  Entre-Roches  skull,  the  antiquity  of  which 
does  not  seem  to  us  sufficiently  establislied,  we  find 
this  custom  maintained  throughout  the  period  charac- 
terized by  tlie  use  of  polished  stone  wea[)ons  and  im- 
plements, the  erection  of  megalithic  monuments,  and 
the  domestication  of  animals.  It  was  practised  by  the 
men  of  the  cave  of  Vlloniine  Mort  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Neolithic  period,  and  was  still  in  use  at  Moret  when 
metals  bes-an  to  be  known.  The  discoveries  of  Dr. 
Wankel,  the  excavations  of  the  tumulus  of  Guisseny, 
prove  that  trepanation  was  continued  throughout  the 
Bronze  age,  whilst  the  Jeuilly  and  Limet  tombs 
show  that  it  was  not  discontinued  even  in  Merovingian 
times. 

The  long  continuance  of  such  a  practice  is  a  very 
interesting  fact,  and  we  may  mention  a  yet  more 
curious  one.  How  are  we  to  explain  trepanations  that 
had  no  apparent  motive  on  crania  showing  no  symp- 
toms of  disease  ?  How  account  for  the  repetition  at 
different  times  of  this  operation,  first  on  the  living  sub- 
ject and  then  on  the  corpse,  as  at  St.  Affrique,  Bougon 
(Fig.  82),  at  Feigneux  (Oise),  where  Dr.  Topinard  has 
recently  made  excavations  in  a  Neolithic  cave  and 
reports  that  a  dolichocephalic  skull  of  the  same  type 
as  the  crania  of  the  cave  of  L Homme  Mort.,  belonging 
to  a  man  of  about  thirty  yeai's  of  age,  bore  two  perfora- 
tions, one  made  during  life,  the  other  after  death? 
The  first  measured  two  and  a  third  by  two  and  a  half 


TREPAN  A  TION: 


273 


inches,  and  was  surrounded  by  scratches,  showing  how 
clumsy  the  operator  had  beeu.^ 

In  nearly  every  case  the  subjects  ojjerated  on  were 
young,  and  long  survived  the  operation.  The  knowl- 
edge of  this  fact  was  from  the  first  a  very  useful  guide 
in  the  study  of  the  subject  of  trepanation,  and  eagei'ly 
pursued  researches  constantly  confirm  it.  One  skull, 
for  instance,  f j'om  the  cave  of  L^ Homme  Mort  (Fig.  83), 


Fig.  82. — Skull  from  the  Bougon  dolmen  (Deux-Sevres),  seen  in  profile. 


had  a  large  opening  jiroduced  partly  by  an  old  opera- 
tion and  partly  by  two  posthumous  trepanations.  The 
subject  had  been  trepanned  in  childhood  or  early 
youth.  There  could  be  no  doubt  on  that  point ;  cica- 
trization had  been  complete,   the  bony  tissue   having 


^  Btti.  Soi.  Afiih.,  1887^  p.  527. 


274 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


returned  to  its  original  condition.  Then  after  death, 
at  an  adult  age,  the  relations  or  friends  of  the  deceased 
had  cut  out  further  round  portions  of  the  skull  as  near 
as  possible  to  the  old  wound,  probably  with  a  view  to 
keeping  these  pieces  as  amulets. 

This  was  to  Broca  a  flasli  of  illuminating  light,  and 
according  to  him  was  in  some  cases  a  religious  rite,  a 


Fig.  83. — Trepanned  prehistoric  skull. 


ceremony  of  initiation,  perhaps  even  a  custom  incul- 
cated l^y  an  established  religion.  The  child  who  had 
been  subjected  to  it  and  had  survived — as  probably 
most  of  the  victims  did  survive, — attained  to  a  certain 
position  and  celebrity  in  his  life,  and  after  his  death  the 
fragments  of  his  skull,  especially  those  portions  near 
the  old  wound,  became  treasured  relics,  and  were  in  the 
end  buried  with  their  fortunate  j^ossessor  on  his  death. 


TREPA  NA  TION.  275 

This  superstition  appears  to  Lave  long  survived  even 
in  historic  times,  and  a  Gallic  chain  is  quoted  '  on  which 
hung  a  round  piece  of  skull  with  three  holes  in  it.  In- 
deed, these  ornaments  were  so  much  sought  after  that 
counterfeits  of  them  were  made ;  at  least,  we  cannot  in 
any  other  way  account  for  the  occurrence  of  objects 
exactly  resembling  round  pieces  of  human  crania,  but 
in  reality  made  out  of  pieces  of  a  stag's  antler  found  in 
the  Baumes-Chaudes  Cave. 

Yet  another  point  deserves  mention.  It  was  evi- 
dently considered  undesirable  that  the  crania  from 
which  pieces  had  been  taken  should  be  left  in  a  muti- 
lated condition,  and  therefore  pieces  from  other  crania 
were  taken  to  fill  up  the  gap,  so  that,  says  Broca,^  a 
new  life  was  evidently  supposed  to  await  the  dead, 
for  otherwise  what  object  can  the  restitution  have 
served  ? 

Dr.  Prunieres  is  also  of  opinion^  that  the  introduc- 
tion into  the  crania  of  certain  deceased  persons  of  round 
pieces  from  other  skulls  implies  the  belief  in  another 
life.  This  explanation,  hypothetical  as  it  is,  is  really 
very  plausible,  and  it  is  a  pleasant  thought  that  our 
remote  ancestors  had  faith  in  a  future  life ;  which  faith 
is  alike  the  greatest  honor  and  the  greatest  comfort  of 
humanity.  Is  not  yet  another  more  striking  j^i'oof  of 
the  belief  in  a  second  existence  to  be  found  in  the 
number  of  objects  placed  in  tombs  at  all  periods  of 
time  and  in  every  part  of  the  world  ?  It  is  this  belief, 
raising  man  as  it  does  above  the  material  needs  of  his 

'  De  Baye :  "  Trepanations  Prehistoriques,"  p.  28,  fig.  11. 

2  Bid.  Soc.  AniJi.,  1877,  p.  42.  Broca  constantly  dwells  on  this  idea.  "This 
funeral  rite,"  he  said,  addressing  the  Anthropological  Society,  "  implies  belief 
in  another  life." 

^  Ass.  Fran^aise,  Lille,  1874,  p.  631. 


2y6  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

daily  life,  which  forms  the  true  grandeur  of  the;  human 
race,  and  if  a  nation  once  loses  it  it  is  sure  to  ]-elapse 
into  barbarism. 

When  trepanning  was  the  fashion  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  operation  was  performed  in  many  different 
ways.  Posthumous  trepanations  were  accomplished 
with  the  aid  of  a  flint  implement  used  as  a  chisel  or  a 
saw.  There  was  greater  difficulty  about  an  operation 
on  a  living  subject.  Broca  is  of  opinion  that  it  was 
done  with  a  drill  turned  I'ound  and  round  in  the  skull 
in  the  way  the  French  she[)liei'ds  still  treat  diseases  of 
the  crania  in  their  sheep.  The  elliptical  form  of  the 
wound  seemed  to  him  to  prove  this,  and  he  was  further 
of  opinion  that  when  an  opening  had  been  drilled  in 
the  skull  at  the  point  chosen,  the  trepanation  was 
completed  by  scraping  the  bone  with  a  small  flint 
blade.^  Discoveries  made  since  the  death  of  the  great 
French  anthropologist,  however,  comj^el  us  to  modify 
this  opinion.  The  inflammation  of  the  bone  noticed 
along  the  edges  of  the  trepanation  proves  that  a  notched 
implement  was  used  to  saw  out  the  })iece  of  skull."^ 

However  the  operation  may  have  been  performed,  it 
is  not  one  of  great  danger  to  the  patient  or  of  great  diflS.- 
culty  to  the  operator.  Experinaents  on  animals  with 
Quaternary  flint  implements  have  always  been  success- 
ful, and  have  had  no  tragic  i-esults,  which  is  the  best 
proof  we  can  possibly  give. 

The  size  of  the  perforations  made  varies  «^^'^■/l^?^^^'^^m. 
One,  the  lai'gest  known,  is  desci-il)ed  which  is  no  less 
than    sixteen    inches    in    diameter.^      Examples    are 

'  Bui.  Soc.  Anth.,  1864,  p.  igg. 

^  £ul.  Soc.  Anth.,  1882,  pp.  143,  535. 

2  Ass.  Fran^aise,  Blois,  1S84,  p.  417. 


TREPANATION.  277 

known  of  the  trepanation  of  every  part  of  tlie  skull, 
even  of  the  forehead,  which  at  one  time  was 
supposed  to  have  escaped.  We  have  ourselves  given 
instances  of  frontal  trepanation,  and  Dr.  Prunieres 
mentions  eleven  cases  in  which  the  forehead  had  been 
operated  on. 

To  conclude,  we  must  repeat  that  trepanation  is  not 
really  a  dangerous  operation,  and  the  reason  it  is 
nearly  always  followed  by  the  death  of  the  subject  in 
our  own  time  is  because  it  is  never  attempted  except 
in  desperate  cases,  and  the  fatal  result  is  really  caused 
by  the  cerebral  disease,  on  account  of  which  the  opera- 
tion was  performed.  History  tells  us  of  its  ])ractice 
in  very  ancient  times ;  Hippocrates  speaks  of  it  as 
often  resorted  to  by  Greek  physicians.  It  is  pei'formed 
in  the  present  day  by  the  Negritos  of  Papua  and  the 
natives  of  Australia  and  of  some  of  the  South  Sea 
Islands,  where  it  is  considered  efficacious  in  many 
maladies.  We  also  find  it  practised  by  the  rough 
miners  of  Cornwall  and  the  wild  mountaineers  of 
Montenegro.^  An  army  doctor  who  travelled  in  Mon- 
tenegro a  few  years  ago  said  that  it  ^vas  no  rare  thing 
to  meet  men  who  had  been  subjected  to  trepanation 
seven,  eight,  or  even  nine  times.  It  is  an  interesting 
question,  though  we  must  not  enter  into  it  here,  whether 
many  races  could  stand  such  a  number  of  operations 
as  this. 

The  only  instance  we  know  in  the  present  day  of 
trepanation  practised  as  a  i-eligious  rite,  is  met  with 
among  the  Kabyles,  who  are  established  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  Aures  on  the  south  of  the  Atlas.     The  opera- 

'  Boulogne  :  M^it.  de  MMccine  et  de  Chirurgie  Militaires,  3d  series,  Paris, 
1868.     Vedrenes  :   "  I>e  Trepanation  du  Crane  "  (AVz/.  Aiitk.,  October,  1886). 


27B  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

tion  is  performed  among  them  by  the  tliehihe^  one  of 
their  priests,  by  the  aid  of  a  simple  gimlet  which  he 
turns  rapidly  round  between  his  fingers.  Among  the 
Kabyles  are  men  who  have  submitted  to  an  operation 
of  this  kind  several  times. 

We  have  now  passed  in  review  the  weapons  of  pre- 
historic peoples,  the  wounds  they  caused,  and  the 
modes  of  healing  them  known  to  our  ancestors ;  we 
have  still  to  study  the  modes  of  defence  resorted  to  by 
them  in  face  of  the  many  dangers  by  which  they  were 
surrounded  ;  but  the  importance  of  this  subject  is  such 
as  to  deserve  separate  consideration. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CAMPS,      FORTIFICATIONS,      VITRIFIED     FORTS  ;      SANTORIIST  ; 
THE    TOWNS    UPON    THE    HILL    OF    IIISSARLIK. 

CoMBATiVENESS,  to  use  tlie  language  of  phrenology, 
is  one  of  the  most  lively  instincts  of  humanity.  The 
Bible  tells  us  of  the  struggle  between  the  sons  of 
Adam,  and  shows  us  might  making  right  ever  since 
the  days  of  primeval  man.  History  is  but  one  long 
account  of  wars  and  conquests,  victories  or  defeats, 
and  progress  is  chiefly  marked  in  inventions  which 
made  battles  more  sanguinary  and  added  to  the  num- 
ber of  victims  slaughtered.  At  the  very  dawn  of 
humanity  man  learned  to  make  weapons ;  very  soon, 
however,  weapons  ceased  to  appear  sufficient.  The  first 
fortification  was  doubtless  the  cave,  which  its  owner 
strengthened  by  closing  the  entrance  with  blocks  of 
stone  and  piles  of  broken  rock,  or  by  digging  deep 
trenches  about  it. 

Population  rapidly  increased  and  war  was  declared 
between  tribe  and  tribe,  nation  and  nation,  race  and 
race.  Terrible  must  have  been  the  struggles  between 
invaders  and  the  original  possessors  of  the  soil.  Means 
of  defence  were  multiplied  to  keep  pace  with  new 
modes  of  attack,  and  our  ancestors  of  the  Stone  age 
were  intelligent  enough  to  make  places  of  refuge  in 
which  on  necessity  they  could  shelter  their  wives  and 

279 


28o  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

children,  and  later,  when  they  became  sedentary,  their 
flocks  and  their  stores  of  grain.  In  many  different 
localities  we  find  the  remains  of  camps  and  fortifica- 
tions, which,  to  avoid  using  a  more  aml)itious  term,  we 
may  characterize  generally  as  enclosures.' 

These  primitive  enclosures,  says  Bertrand  in  his 
"Archeologie  Celtiquo  et  Gauloise,"  may  have  been 
very  much  more,  numerous  than  is  supposed,  if  we 
include  amongst  them,  as  it  appears  we  ought,  many 
ruins  Ions:  thou2:ht  to  date  from  the  Roman  era. 

There  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  purpose  served  by  the 
camps,  but  we  are  not  prepared  to  speak  as  positively 
as  does  Bertrand  as  to  their  origin,  and  the  difficulty 
of  deciding  is  very  greatly  increased  on  account  of 
these  camps  having  been  successively  occupied  at  dif- 
ferent epochs  by  different  peoples.  Bearing  in  mind 
this  reservation,  we  will  now  sum  up  to  the  best  of 
our  ability  all  that  is  so  far  known  about  the  most 
important  remains  hitherto  examined. 

The  residence  of  prehistoric  man  in  the  rich  districts 
between  the  Sambre  and  the  Meuse  is  proved  by  worked 
flints,  fragments  of  pottery,  and  human  bones  dating 
from  most  remote  times.  The  stations  successively 
occupied  were  situated  near  watercourses  or  copious 
springs,  and,  where  possible,  on  isolated  escarped  pla- 
teaux surrounded  by  ravines.  Hastedon,  about  a  mile 
and  a  quarter  from  Namur,  is  one  of  the  best  examples  we 

'  On  this  point  an  admirable  book  should  be  consulted,  by  De  la  Xoe  :  "  En- 
ceintes Prehistoriques,"  JA7/'.,iS88,  p.  324,  in  which  the  author  says  that  positions 
protected  by  escarpments  bordering  the  greater  part  of  the  circumference  of  the 
enceinte  were  at  ail  times  chosen  for  the  erection  of  fortifications.  The  ab- 
sence of  water,  however,  often  makes  him  hesitate  in  coming  to  a  decision,  and 
leads  him  to  think  that  the  remains  where  it  is  absent  must  have  been  temples 
for  the  worship  of  deities. 


CAMPS,   FORTJFTCATTONS.  2%\ 

can  quote/  The  camp,  first  made  out  in  1865,  formed 
a  long  square,  covering  some  tliirteeu  hectares,  or  about 
thirty-two  acres.  It  is  situated  on  an  isolated  mound 
connected  with  the  main  plateau  by  an  isthmus  227 
feet  long,  and  is  protected  on  the  south  and  west  by  a 
deep  ravine.  To  these  natural  defences  men  had 
added  important  works  to  those  parts  that  were  acces- 
sible. The  cutting  of  trenches  a  few  years  ago  brought 
to  lisfht  walls  of  a  mean  thickness  of  more  than  nine 
feet,  formed  of  masses  of  rock  and  sand  and  round 
pieces  of  w^ood  parallel  with  a  revetement  of  diy  stones 
surmounted  by  a  palisade  consisting  of  three  pieces  of 
wood  parallel  with  the  walls,  and  seven  perpendicular 
traverses.  All  the  wood  was  charred  ;  the  besieged 
had  evidently  been  driven  out  by  fire.  Excavations 
led  to  the  finding  of  Roman  coins  ;  this  and  the  resem- 
blance of  the  palisades  to  those  described  by  Caesar,^ 
the  very  name  of  Hastedon,  and  the  tradition  every- 
where prevalent  in  the  disti'ict,  that  this  had  been  the 
site  of  a  Gallic  Roman  camp,  led  to  the  general  adop- 
tion of  that  opinion.  In  fact.  Napoleon  III.  actually 
ordei'ed  excavations  to  be  made  in  the  hope  of 
finding  traces  of  the  Atuatuques,  one  of  the  most  war- 
like of  the  tribes  of  northern  Gaul ;  but  side  by  side 
with  historic  relics  were  no  less  than  ten  tliousand 
flints.  These  are  chiefly  merely  chips  or  nuclei  which 
had  served  as  hammers,  or  long  thin  slices,  with 
some  few  arrow-  and  lance-heads  often  skilfully  cut, 
some  polished  hatchets,  and  saws  with  fine  teeth. 
Nearly  all  are  notched  and  worn  with  use,  which  does 
away  with  the  idea  that  the  place  where  they  were 

'  Congres  Pre'historiques ,  Brussels,  1872,  p.  318. 
*  "  De  Bello  Gallico,"  book  vii.,  chap,  xxiii. 


282  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

found  vv;i8  the  site  of  a  workshop  siicli  as  I  have 
already  described.  With  these  worked  flints  were 
found  some  fragments  of  coarse  pottery,  which  couhl 
not  possibly  be  confounded  with  Koman  or  Gallic 
work.  The  flints  and  pottery,  and  tlie  walls  put  to- 
gether without  cement,  point  to  the  conclusion  that  if 
the  camp  of  Hastedon  was  occupied  by  the  Roman 
legions,  it  was  long  previous  to  their  day  inhabited  by 
some  Neolithic,  race,  ignorant  of  the  use  of  any  but 
stone  weapons  and  implements. 

The  camp  of  Pont-de-Bonn  in  the  commune  of 
Modave  (Namui-)  very  much  resembles  in  its  arrange- 
ment that  of  Hastedon.^  A  mound  stands  out  upon 
the  plain  protected  on  the  north  and  west  by  rocks 
difiicult  of  access  and  connected  witli  the  main  plateau 
by  a  very  narrow  tongue  of  land.  Outside  we  can 
make  out  I'egular  trenches  parallel  with  each  other,  and 
connected  by  a  ^vall  of  masoniy,  at  the  foot  of  which 
wall  wei'e  picked  up  a  good  many  iron  nails.  Inside 
the  enceinte  itself  worked  flints  were  associated  with 
Roman  coins.  Are  not  these  proofs  in  the  first  place 
of  a  l(Hig  Neolithic  occupation,  then  of  the  residence 
of  Gallic  Romans,  and  yet  later  of  even  more  modern 
people  of  whom  the  masonry  walls  and  iron  nails  are 
relics  ? 

Limburg  also  contains  some  defensive  works,  many 
centuries  old,  which  are  as  j^et  but  little  known.  We 
may  mention  amongst  them  the  so-called  dyke  of  Zee- 
dyck,  near  Tongres,  a  formidable  intrenchment  some 
2,1 8B  yards  long  by  more  than  325  feet  wide  at  the 
base,  and  of  a  height  varying  from  49  to  65  feet; 
the  earthen  ramparts  of  Willem  on  the  Geule,  the  not 

'  Dupont  :   "  Les  Temps  Prchistoriques  en  Belgique,"  p.  235. 


CAMPS,    FORTIFICATIOMS.  283 

less  important  ones  of  Houleiu,  with  many  otliers  far 
away  from  the  great  highways  of  coinmnnication,  but 
within  the  limits  of  the  two  provinces  of  Liege  and 
Limburg/ 

A  few  years  ago  Bertrand  said  that  there  are  in 
France  some  four  hundred  earthen  enceintes^  ^'^^y  sixty 
of  which  contain  relics  connecting  them  with  the  Gal- 
lic Romans.  Since  Bertrand's  announcement  this 
number  has  been  greatly  increased,  thanks  to  eagerly 
prosecuted  local  researches.  De  Pulligny  mentions  a 
hundred  in  Upper  Normandy  ~;  Martinet  says  they 
are  very  numerous  in  Berry ;  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able, the  quadrilateral  of  Haute-Brenne,  covered  an  area 
of  nearly  three  thousand  acres.^  Amongst  tlie  forests 
on  the  Vosojes  Mountains  were  discovei'ed  long;  siuij^le 
and  double  walls,  the  course  of  which  follows  the 
crest  of  the  ramparts  overlooking  the  valley  of 
the  Zorn,  between  Lutzelbourg  and  Saverne.'*  At 
Rosmeur,  on  Pen  march  Point  (Finistere),  Du  Chatellier 
excavated  two  tumuli  which  appear  to  have  been  con- 
nected with  a  series  of  defensive  works  encirclino"  the 
whole  promontory.5  It  would  be  merely  fastidious  to 
nudtiply  instances,  we  will 'content  ourselves  with  de- 
scribing a  few  of  the  most  interesting  of  these  anti(|ue 
fortifications.^ 

The  camp  of  Chassey  (Saone-et-Loire)  may  be  com- 
pared   with    those   of  Belgium.     It  is  situated   on   a 

'  H.  Bauduin  :  Biil.   Soc.  Beige  de  Ge'ographte,  1S79. 

^  Rectieil  des  Travatix  de  la  SocidlJ  de  PBure,  Evreux,  1879. 

^  Rev.  d\4iith.,  1880,  p.  469. 

•*  "  Notice  sur  Quelques  Monuments  Trouves  sur  le  Sommet  des  Vosges  "  {^Soc. 
des  Alonuvicnts  Historiques  de  V Alsace,  vol.  i.). 

^  Rev.  d^Anth.,  1880,  p.  295. 

''  We  may  also  mention  the  Pen  Richard  in  Charente  Inferieure,  so  well 
described  by  Cartailhac  in  his  "  France  Prehistorique,"  p.  131. 


284  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

plateau  2,440  feet  long  by  a  width  varying  from  360 
to  672  feet.  A  huge  natural  rocky  barrier  rises  on 
the  south  and  east,  whilst  on  the  northeast  and  south- 
west we  find  two  important  intrenchments  made  of 
huire  blocks  of  stone  with  a  reveteinent  of  eaith. 
One  of  these  intrenchments  is  45,  the  othei*  only  29 
feet  high.  There  is  no  trace  inside  of  springs,  and  the 
inhabitants  must  always  have  had  to  obtain  their 
water-supply  by  artificial  means.  The  cisterns  now 
in  this  camp  appear  to  have  been  dug  out  with  iron 
implements,  and  are  certainly  of  later  date  than  the 
first  occupation  of  the  plateau.  Numerous  objects 
picked  up  in  the  Chassey  Camp  belong  to  Neolithic 
times,  but  the  people  who  have  occupied  it  since  those 
remote  days,  the  men  of  the  Bronze  and  Iron  ages, 
the  Grauls,  the  Romans,  and  the  Merovingians,  have  so 
turned  over  the  ground  that  products  of  industries, 
completely  strange  to  each  other,  are  everywhere  mixed 
together  in  inextricable  confusion.^ 

There  were  originally  a  good  many  hearths  about 
the  camp,  and  it  was  near  to  one  of  them  that  the 
spoon  was  found,  figured  in  an  earlier  chapter  of  this 
book  (Fig.  25).  With  it  were  picked  up  polished 
fibrolite,  basalt,  chloromelanite,  serpentine,  and  diorite 
hatchets ;  evidently  made  in  the  neighboi'hood,  as 
is  proved  beyond  a  doubt  by  the  numerous  chips 
and  partly  worked  pieces  lying  about,  as  well  as 
the  disco veiy  of  no  less  than  thirty  polishers,  many  of 
them  showing  signs  of  long  service.     Bone  imj^lements 

1  Arcelin  :  "  L'Age  de  Pierre  et  la  Classification  Pre'historique,"  Paris,  1873. 
Flouest :  "  Notice  siir  le  Camp  de  Chassey."  Perrault :  "  Un  Foyer  de  I'Age  de 
la  Pierre  Polie  au  Camp  de  Chassey  "  (/I/ir? A,  1870).  Coynart :  "  Fouilles  au 
Camp  de  Chassey"  ijiev.  Arch.,  1866  and  1867). 


CAMPS,    FORTIFICATIONS.  285 

of  all  kinds  aud  whistles  made  of  the  phalanges  of 
oxen  are  also  constantly  found.  Even  if  the  presence 
of  these  objects  does  not  enable  us  to  come  to  any  final 
conclusion,  they  are  at  least  most  useful  and  interesting 
in  enabling  us  to  put  together  little  by  little  a  picture 
of  the  life  of  the  most  ancient  inhabitants  of  France. 

The  camp  of  Catenoy,  near  Liancourt  (Oise)  is 
arranged  very  much  in  the  same  mannei'  as  that  of 
Chassey.^  C(esar\s  Cainp^  as  it  is  called  by  the  people 
of  the  neighborhood,  forms  a  long  triangle,  the  apex  of 
which  rests  on  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  plateau. 
Excavations  have  yielded  a  number  of  Gallic-Koman 
objects,  with  some  polished  hatchets,  some  broken, 
others  intact,  with  stone  and  bone  weapons,  resembling 
but  for  a  few  slight  differences  those  we  have  described 
so  often.  Numerous  fragments  of  pottery  were  also 
picked  up,  which  pottery,  hand-made  and  mixed  with 
crushed  shells,  seldom  has  either  handles  or  any  attempt 
at  ornamentation.  Weapons,  implements,  and  pottery 
are  all  alike  totally  different  from  any  Roman  or  Gallic 
work  known.  It  is  impossible  to  study  the  relics  at 
Catenoy  without  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
camp  was  occupied  at  periods  prior  to  Gallic  and 
Roman  times,  and  that  there,  as  in  many  other  districts, 
the  Latin  conquerors  had  succeeded  an  unknown  van- 
quished race. 

De  Quatrefages  has  accurately  made  out  a  series  of 
^vorks  extending  along  the  left  bank  of  the  Nive,  as 
far  as  Itsassou,  and  of  which  the  Pas-de-Roland  marks 
the  extreme  limit.  A  merel}^  superficial  examination 
is  enough  to  show  that  these  defences  existed  only  on 
the  side  to  which  access  would  otherwise  have  been 

'  Ponthieux,  "  Le  Camp  de  Catenoy  "  (Oise). 


286  rREIIISTOKIC   PEOPLES. 

easy,  while  tlie  height  overlooking  the  river  on  the 
other  side,  which  is  impregnable  by  nature,  has  been 
left  untouched.  Here  too  we  find  the  name  Caesar's 
Camp  given  to  the  relics,  a  fact  of  common  occurrence 
all  over  France,  where  the  great  captain  was  long  held 
in  honor.  Quatrefages  is,  however,  of  opinion  that  the 
works  are  neither  Koman,  Gallic  nor  Celtic,  and  he  even 
arrives  by  a  process  of  elimination  at  the  conclusion 
that  they  were  ei'ected  by  the  Iberians,  who  preceded 
the  Aryans,  and  have  left  so  deep  an  impress  on  all 
the  countries  they  successively  occupied.  We  do  not 
feel  able  to  accept  entirely  this  hypothesis  ;  but  no 
suggestion  of  the  eminent  professor  must  be  overlooked 
by  those  who  earnestly  seek  with  unbiassed  minds  to 
ascertain  the  truth. 

Gregory  of  Tours  relates  that  at  the  time  of  the 
invasion  of  the  Yaudals,  the  Gabali  took  refuge  with 
their  families  in  the  Castrwni  Gredanense^  and  there, 
for  two  years,  enei'getically  resisted  the  invaders.^ 
Greze,  now  a  little  market  town  of  the  department  of 
Lozere,  is  the  castrnm  of  which  the  old  French  chroni- 
cler s[)eaks,  and  Dr.  Prunieres  there  collected  forty 
stone  hatchets,  differing  in  no  material  respect  from 
others  found  in  such  numbers  elsewhere,  with  flint 
knives  and  scrapers,  bone  stilettos,  and  millstones, 
doubtless  used  for  grinding  grain,  all  of  which  are  to. 
the  learned  French  professor  proofs  of  the  existence 
there  of  a  Neolithic  station  before  the  historic  period. 

In  the  department  of  Alpes-Maritimes  a  series  of 
defensive  works  crown  the  circle  of  mountains  which 
rise  from  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean.  These  in- 
trenchments  ceitainly  date  from  a  remote  period,  though 

'  "  Hist.  Francorum,"  book  i.,  chap,  xxxii. 


CAMPS,    FOR  TIFICA  TIONS. 


287 


we  cannot  assign  tliem  to  any  definite  time,  and  the 
fact  that  they  have  been  repaired  at  dift'erent  e[)ochs 
proves  that  they  were  successively  occupied.'  They 
consist  principally  of  circular  or  elliptical  enceintes 
sui'rounded  by  walls  of  stones  without  mortar,  and 
they  vary  in  diameter  from  some  39  to  328  feet.  One 
of  the  largest  is  that  on  the  Colliue  des  Mulets,  above 
Monte  Carlo. 

Although  the  pile-dwellings  of  Switzerland  and  of 
the  terremares  of  Italy  would  appear  to  have  been  in 
themselves  protection  enough,  their  inhabitants  did  not 
neglect  other  means   of  defence,  from  which  we   may 


Fig.    84. — Prehistoric  spoon  and   button   found    in    a   lake    station    at    Sutz 

(Switzerland). 

gather  that  they  were  engaged  iu  constant  and  terrible 
struggles.  The  terremares  were  generally  sui'i'ounded 
by  a  talus  or  rampart  of  earth,  with  an  external  fosse 
which  protected  the  approaches  to  the  dwellings.  The 
rampart  of  Castione  (Parma),  which  dates  from  the 
Bronze  age,  was  even  strengthened  inside  with  large 
timber  caissons.^     In  Switzerland,  some  works  recently 

^  De  Rosemont :  "Etude  sur  les  Antiquites  anterieures  aux  Romains." 
Desjardins  :  "Les  Camps  Retranches  des  Environs  de  Nice."  Riviere:  Ass. 
Fran^aise,  Rheims,  1880,  p.  628. 

*  Pigorini :  "  Terramara  dell'Eta  del  Bronzo  Situata  in  Castione  de' 
Marchesi." 


288  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

undertaken  to  deflect  the  course  of  the  Aar,  on  its  exit 
from  Lake  Bienne,  have  led  to  the  disco veiy  of  a 
village  of  the  Stone  age,  with  the  bridges  leading  to  it 
and  the  little  forts  intended  to  protect  it/  As  have  the 
neighboring  settlements,  this  station  has  yielded  a  great 
many  arrows,  hatchets,  scrapers,  and  harpoons.  We 
give  an  illustration  of  a  curious  marrow  spoon,  and  of  a 
round  object  which  seems  to  have  been  a  button  (Fig. 
84),  as  they  mark  the  progress  made. 

Great  Bi'itain  is  intersected  by  lines  of  fortifications 
of  unknown  origin,  but  certainly  of  extreme  antiquity. 
We  may  mention  Dane's  Dyke,  Wandyke,  the  Devil's 
Dyke  at  Newmarket,  and  Offa's  Dyke,  running  from 
the  Bristol  Channel  to  the  Dee,  and  dividing  England 
from  AVales.  Ancient  camps  and  intrenchments,  Sir 
John  Lubbock  tells  us,  crown  the  greater  number  of 
the  hills  of  England.  General  Pitt-Rivers  explored 
several  of  these  camps  in  the  county  of  Sussex.  Many 
extend  over  considerable  areas,  and  all  contain  num- 
erous worked  flints  and  other  relics  of  prehistoric  in- 
dustry. These  relics  are  met  with  in  great  numbers  at 
the  base  of  the  intrenchments,  so  that  we  may  justly 
conclude  that  they  date  from  the  same  epoch. 

The  most  celebrated  of  these  camps  is  that  of  Ciss- 
bury,  three  miles  north  of  AVorthing.  We  may  also 
mention  that  of  Hod-Hill  in  Dorsetshire,  which  greatly 
resembles  the  one  at  Cissbury,  but  we  will  describe 
the  latter  in  some  detail.^  It  is  situated  on  a  somewhat 
lofty  plateau  of  irregular  form,  its  site  having  been  cho- 
sen with  great  skill  as  one  offering  great  facilities  for  de- 

'  Nature,  1887,  second  week,  p.  62. 

^  Memoranda  read  to  the  Royal  Society  of  Antiquaries  in  London  (ArchtZ' 
ologia,  vol.  xlii.,  pp.  2-]--jt).  Lane  Fox:  British  Association,  Bristol,  1875. 
Evans  :  "  Stone  Age." 


CAMPS,    FORTIFICATIONS.  289 

fence.  The  earthen  ramparts  and  the  fosses  protecting 
them  cover  an  area  of  sixty  acres,  and  their  importance 
varies  according  to  the  I'elief  of  the  gi'ound  ;  thus  the 
thickness  of  tlie  walls  is  very  much  greater  on  the 
eastern  side  where  an  attack  would  have  been  most 
fraught  with  danger ;  four  doors  give  access  to  the 
interior,  and  on  each  side  of  these  doors  ai'e  I'uins  of 
rectangular  structures  strengthening  their  defence. 
Archaeologists,  however,  are  of  o[)inion  that  these  re- 
doubts, though  their  construction  is  exactly  similar  to 
the  rest  of  the  fortifications,  are  of  more  recent  date. 
In  fact  Koman  tiles  have  been  found  amongst  the 
]-uins,  but  these  really  pi'ove  nothing,  as  every  one  is 
agreed  that  Cissbury  was  occupied  by  the  liomaus 
after  the  subjugation  of  England  by  them  ;  and  the 
only  point  at  issue  is  really  whether  the  walls  of  which 
the  ruins  still  remain  date  from  the  Roman  period,  or 
from  times  prior  to  their  arrival.  We  ourselves  lean 
to  the  latter  opinion,  as  drinking-water  is  absolutely 
wanting ;  a  very  important  point,  as  the  Roman  gen- 
ei'als  always  made  it  their  first  care  to  pitch  their 
camps  near  a  good  water-supply.  On  the  western  slope 
at  Cissbury  on  each  side  of  the  ramparts  are  fifty 
funnel-shaped  depressions,  some  of  which  are  as  much 
as  seventy  feet  in  diameter  and  twelve  feet  deep. 
These  holes  may  have  served  as  refuges,  and  the  larger 
ones  were  certainly  lived  in,  as  is  proved  by  the 
charred  stones  of  the  hearths  and  the  j^ieces  of  char- 
coal found  near  them ;  moreover,  Tacitus  ^  tells  us  that 
the  Germans  lived  in  similar  habitations.     Whatever, 

'  "  Solent  et  subterraneos  specus  aperire,  eosque  multo  insuper  fimo  onerant, 
suffugium  hiemi   et    receptaculum  frugibus  "   ("  De   Moribus   Germanorum," 
chap.  xvi.). 
19 


290  PREHISTORfC  PEOPLES. 

however,  may  have  been  their  ultimate  use,  these  hol- 
lows were  in  the  first  place  dug  out  with  a  view  to 
obtaining  flints  iu  the  marly  chalk  forming  the  hill ; 
and  recent  excavations  have  revealed  the  existence  of 
galleries  connecting  the  depressions.  When  they  be- 
came later  human  habitations  some  of  the  inside  open- 
ings were  blocked  up  with  lumps  of  chalk,  carefully 
piled  up  so  as  to  make  entrance  extremely  difficult, 
greatly  adding  to  the  security  of  the  inmates. 

Thirty  of  these  shafts  were  excavated  iu  succession ; 
and  amongst  the  rubbish  of  all  kinds  with  which  they  . 
were  filled  were  found  some  well  cut  celts,  showing 
no  trace  of  polish,  and  some  weapons  or  tools  of  the 
Mousterien  type.  The  number  of  half-finished  imple- 
ments, and  the  even  greater  quantity  of  chips,  points 
to  these  shafts  having  formed  a  centre  of  manufacture. 
Many  of  the  implements  were  made  of  stag-horn,  and 
amongst  them  we  must  mention  some  picks  which, 
curiously  enough,  exactly  resemble  thos^  of  Belgium  and 
the  south  of  France.^  Similar  wooden  picks  are  found 
in  the  copper  mines  of  the  Asturias,  iu  the  salt  mines 
of  Salzburg,  and  in  a  petroleum  well  recently  opened  on 
the  frontier  between  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
In  all  these  localities  traces  can  be  made  out  of  ancient 
mining  operations.  But  to  return  to  Cissbury  :  from 
amongst  the  prehistoric  ruins  there  were  also  taken, 
numerous  fragments  of  pottery,  not  at  all  like  Roman 
ware,  with  the  bones  of  the  horse,  goat,  boar,  and  ox,  all 
still  represented  in  the  fauna  of  England ;  with  oyster- 
shells,  and  the  shells  of  both  land  and  sea  mollusca,  of 
species  still  to  be  found  in  Great  Britain.  But  no  trace 
has  so  far  been  discovered  of  metals,  and  neither  the 

'  American  Journal  of  ArchJEology. 


CAMPS,    FOR TI PICA  riONS.  29 1 

flint  irapleoients  nor  tlie  bones  of  animals  have  any  of 
the  marks  of  rust  so  characteristic  of  the  Bronze  and 
Iron  ages.  Must  we  not  then  conclude  that  these 
shafts  were  sunk  at  a  time  long  prior  to  the  earliest 
histoi'ic  period  ? 

The  walls  of  the  subterranean  galleries  of  Cissbury 
bore  not  only  cup-shaped  ornaments,  stride,  and  curved 
or  broken  lines,  recalling  those  on  the  megalithic 
monuments  of  Scotland  and  Ireland  ;  but  Park  Harri- 
son has  made  out  some  regular  runes,  or  written  char- 
acters, of  which  a  reproduction  was  shown  at  the 
Paris  Exhibition  in  1878.  This  last  fact  is  the  more 
curious,  as  Sayce  discovered  in  a  passage  giving  access 
to  a  cave  near  Syi'acuse  some  characters  somewhat 
similar  in  form,  to  which  he  assigns  a  proto-Phoenician 
origin.  We  may  add  that  certain  characters  made  out 
at  Cissbury,  differing  but  little  fi'oni  the  modern  letter 
h  or  the  figure  6,  are  also  found  in  the  most  ancient 
Palmyrian,  Copt,  and  Syrian  alphabets.  Were  this 
fact  completely  established,  still  more,  if  it  were  cor- 
roborated by  other  analogous  facts,  we  should  in  it 
have  a  very  valuable  indication  of  the  relations  of 
England  with  the  most  ancient  known  navigators. 

Germany  also  contains  some  ancient  fortifications,  of 
which  the  most  remarkable  are  the  Heidenmmiev  of 
Saint  Odila,  near  Hermeskiel,  between  the  Moselle  and 
the  Rhine.  Huge  stones,  piled  up  without  cement, 
form  a  triple  enceinte^  but  there  is  nothing  to  connect 
these  remains  wdth  prehistoric  times.  It  is  the  same 
with  the  intrenchments  in  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Posen, 
the  existence  of  which  was  announced  at  a  meeting 
of   the    Anthropological    Society    of    Bei-lin.*      Many 

'  ZeiUchriJt /iir  Anthropologie,  1874,  p.  115  ;  1875,  p.  127. 


292  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

of  these  defensive  woi'ks,  notably  those  of  Potzrow 
and  of  Zahuow,  had  been  erected  on  piles.  In  the 
district  between  Thorn  and  the  Baltic  are  nnmerous 
mounds  of  the  shape  of  a  truncated  cone,  the  plat- 
foi*m  of  which  is  surrounded  by  an  embankment  some 
590  feet  in  diameter/  Near  many  of  these  were 
picked  up  many  broken  human  bones,  mixed  together 
in  the  greatest  confusion  with  weapons,  hatchets,  and 
hammers,  resembling  Neolithic  types.  Everything 
bears  witness  to  the  struggles  of  which  these  mounds 
were  the  scene. 

Similar  relics  of  a  past  still  obscure  are  met  with 
in  the  south  of  Europe.  Cartailhac  has  brought  into 
notice  the  citanias,  which  ai'e  strange  fortified  towns 
in  Portugal.  On  the  plateau  of  Mouinho-da-Moura, 
southwest  of  Lisbon,  were  found  numerous  polished 
hatchets,  associated  with  shells  of  marine  mollusca 
and  the  bones  of  mammals  belonging  to  species  still 
extant.^  This  station  was  protected  by  intrenchments 
of  so  great  an  extent  that  it  has  been  impossible  to 
examine  the  whole  of  them.  There  are  also  near  the 
same  place  several  caves,  now  nearly  choked  up.  One 
of  them  was  originally  a  regular  tunnel ;  the  cutting 
leading;  to  the  enti-ance  was  made  of  earth  and  small 
stones;  it  contained  the  l)ones  of  animals,  some 
cinders,  and  four  large  vases  of  coarse  workmanship. 
It  is  difficult  to  make  out  what  this  cave  was  used  for, 
the  great  confusion  in  which  the  bones  lay  excluding 
all  idea  of  its  having  been  a  tomb.  E-ibeiro  had 
already  made  out  at  Lycea  an  intrenched  camp  pro- 

'  Zaborowski  :   "  Monuments  Prehistoriques  de  la  Basse  Vistule." 
^Ribeiro:   "Notice  sur  Quelques  Monuments  Prehistoriques  du  Portugal," 
Lisbon,  1878. 


294  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

tected  by  clumsily  constructed  walls.  Inside  tlie 
enceinte  lie  picked  up  numerous  fragments  of  orna- 
mented pottery,  with  j)C)lislied  batcbets,  sbells,  and  a 
good  many  bones  of  animals.  He  also  made  out  sev- 
eral se[)ulchres.^ 

The  prehistoric  station  of  La  Muela  de  Chert  in  Maez- 
ti'ago  reminds  us  of  those  of  Portugal.  Tt  is  situated 
on  a  little  eminence,  protected  on  the  nortb  and  east 
by  the  natural  escai'pment  of  the  plateau,  and  on  other 
sides  by  a  wall  of  some  height  made  of  stones  without 
mortar.  Some  foundations  of  an  oval  sba[)e,  on  which 
doubtless  were  built  the  homes  of  the  inhabitants,  can 
be  made  out  in  the  middle  of  the  enceinte.  We  can, 
however,  but  repeat  here  what  we  have  said  so  often 
elsewhere,  that  it  is  impossible  to  fix  the  exact  date  at 
which  these  intreuchments  were  made.  The  discovery, 
however,  of  polished  flint  hatchets,  diorite  lance-heads, 
and  a  few  bones  of  ruminants  and  cervid.ie  unknown 
in  Spain  in  prehistoric  times,  would  appear  to  point  to 
a  very  considerable  antiquity.  Lastly,  two  j^oung 
Belgian  engineers  ~  have  lately  made  out  between  Al- 
meria  and  Cartbagena  a  considerable  number  of  pre- 
historic stations  in  which  can  be  traced  successively 
the  different  Stone  ages  and  those  of  Copper  and  of 
Bronze.  Several  of  these  stations  (Fig.  85)  are  regular 
fortified  camps,  protected  by  thick  stone  walls  cemented 
with  a  thin  layer  of  clay.  The  fire  which  destroyed 
the  habitations  has  left  behind,  beneath  the  ashes 
and  cinders,  numerous  objects,  with  the  aid  of  which 
we  are  able  to  form  a  picture  of  the  life  led  by  the 
men  who  built  the  fortifications,  and  w^e  know  that 

'  "  Noticia  de  Algunas  Estarves  e  Monumentos  Prehistoricos." 

'  H.  and  L.  Siret :  "  Les  Premiers  Ages  du  Metal  dans  le  Sud-est  de  I'Espagne." 


CAMPS,    FORTIFICATIONS.  295 

they  were  agriculturists,  for  the  very  stores  of  grain 
have  been  found  charred  and  agglutinated  by  fire.  In 
the  more  recent  stations  flint,  which  was  in  the  earliest 
time  the  one  material  used,  has  disappeai'ed  and  is 
replaced  by  the  copper,  of  which  a  plentiful  supply 
was  found  in  the  rich  mines  riddling  the  mountains. 
Excavations  have  even  brouglit  to  light  the  workshop 
of  the  metallurgist,  with  its  moulds  and  vases  con- 
verted into  crucibles,  its  essays  at  new  forms,  its  scoriae, 
and  lastly  its  finished  weapons,  showing  real  skill  in 
their  production. 

Althougli  it  is  impossible  to  assign  to  them  a  definite 
date,  we  must,  to  make  this  part  of  our  work  complete, 
say  a  few  words  on  the  earthworks  met  with  in  Rou- 
mania.  A  former  minister  of  that  principality,  M. 
Odobesco,^  classes  them  as  valla^  tumuli^  and  cetati 
de  paftientu  or  citadels. 

The  valla  include  important  works.  One  of  them 
cuts  across  Valachie  parallel  with  the  Danube  and 
loses  itself  in  Southern  Russia.  Another  crosses  the 
north  of  Moldavia  and  Bessarabia,  following  a  di- 
rection convergent  with  the  former.  These  valla, 
although  they  are  known  in  the  country  in  which 
they  occur  as  Fosses  de  Trajan,  are  certainly  of  earlier 
date  than  the  Roman  occupation,  and  in  fact  Roman 
roads  cut  across  the  intrenchments  or  fosses  which 
have  been  levelled  or  covered  over  to  make  way  for 
them.  Excavations  of  the  large  tumuli  are  not  yet 
sufficiently  advanced  for  us  to  hazard  an  opinion 
about  them.  The  smaller  ones,  however,  are  seldom 
of  Roman  orisciu.  The  funeral  vases  of  calcareous 
stone  which  they  contain  bear  witness  clearly  enough 

'  Congres  Prehistoriqtie  de  Copenhague,  p.  1 1 8. 


296  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

to  their  destination,  and  also  to  the  rite  with  which 
they  were  connected. 

The  cetati  de  immentii  are  regular  earthen  fortifica- 
tions set  up  within  short  distances  of  each  other  on  all 
the  heights  overlooking  the  torrential  rivers  of  Rou- 
mania.  These  intrenchments,  generally  of  round  or 
oval  form,  are  protected  by  deep  fosses,  parapets,  and 
palisades.  Masses  of  cinders  and  burnt  earth  bear 
unmistakable  evidence  to  the  cause  of  their  destruc- 
tion. All  about,  excavations  have  brought  to  light 
coai'se  pottery,  grindstones  for  crushing  grain,  stores  of 
millet  which  had  been  damaged  by  the  flames,  and  a 
few  primitively  constructed  bi'onze  idols.  When  the 
van(}uished  Roumanians  were  driven  from  their  in- 
trenchments,  they  had  evidently  learned  to  use  bronze, 
but  were  still,  as  we  have  already  remarked,  unac- 
quainted with  iron,  as  no  object  in  that  material  has 
been  found,  nor  does  anything  bear  any  trace  of  rust. 

Thus,  throughout  Europe,  man,  in  the  presence  of 
the  many  dangers  surrounding  him,  endeavored  in  the 
very  earliest  times  to  protect  by  similar  means  his 
family,  his  flocks,  and  his  wealth.  In  America  we  are 
able  to  quote  facts  of  even  more  importance.  The 
vast  territoiy  conq^rised  between  the  Alleghanies  and 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  between  the  great  lakes  of 
Canada  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  is  intersected  with 
truly  colossal  fortifications,  almost  all  of  them  made 
entirely  of  earth.  The  ancient  Americans  knew  how 
to  protect  every  height  and  every  delta  formed  by  the 
junction  of  two  rivers  with  redoubts,  walls,  parapets, 
fosses,  and  circumvallations.  Not  without  astonish- 
ment we  make  out  a  regular  system  of  fortresses  con- 
nected  ^vith  each   other  by  deep  ti'enches  and  secret 


CAMPS,   FORTIFICATIOMS.  297 

passages,  some  of  tliem  hewn  out  beneath  the  beds  of 
rivers,  observ-atories  on  the  heights,  and  concentric 
walls,  some  actually  strengthened  witli  casemates  pro- 
tecting the  entrances.  All  these  works  were  con- 
structed by  the  so-called  Mound-Builders,  of  whose 
ancestors  or  of  whose  descendants  absolutely  nothing 
is  known. 

All  the  strongholds  of  the  Mound-Builders  rise  near 
abundant  watercourses,  and  the  best  proof  that  can 
be  given  of  the  intelligence  wdiich  guided  their  con- 
structors in  their  choice  of  sites,  is  the  fact  of  the 
number  of  flourishing  cities  such  as  Newark,  Ports- 
mouth, Cincinnati,  Saint  Louis,  Frankfort,  and  New- 
Madrid,  etc.,  which  were  built  upon  the  ruins  of 
various   earthworks. 

It  would  take  us  too  long  merely  to  enumerate  all 
the  ancient  fortifications  still  existing  in  North  Am- 
erica. Moreover  they  all  resemble  each  other  so  much 
that  the  description  of  a  few  of  them  is  really  all  that 
is  needed  to  prove  their  importance. 

Fort  Hill  (Fig.  5,  p.  39)  rises  from  an  eminence  over- 
looking a  little  river  called  Paint  Creek ;  the  walls  vary 
in  height  from  eight  to  fifteen  feet,  and  exceed  thirty 
feet  in  thickness.^  Several  doors  facilitate  entrance, 
and  one  of  them  leads  to  a  square  enceinte,  the  walls 
of  which  have  been  almost  entirely  destroyed.  This 
enclosure  probably  contained  the  homes  of  the  peo- 
ple, which  may  have  been  mere  cabins  of  adobes  or 
sun-burnt  bricks,  or  huts  covered  with  rushes,  inter- 
laced branches,  or  the  skins  of  animals  ;  on  this  point 
we  are  reduced  to  guess w^ork.  In  the  centre  of  the 
principal  enclosure  can  be  made  out,  in  almost  ev^ery 

'  Putnam:   "  Report  Peabody  Museum,"  vol.  iii.,  p.  348. 


298  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

case,  several  miicli  smaller  enclosures,  each  containing 
in  their  turn  one  or  more  mounds.  Some  think  these 
were  consecrated  to  religious  rites,  but  this  is  a  mere 
conjecture,  for  nothing  is  really  known  of  the  form  of 
frovernment  or  of  the  relio-iou  of  the  Mound-Builders. 

Forest  trees  have  grown  up  on  these  abandoned 
ruins,  succeeding  other  vegetable  growths  ;  the  huge 
girth  of  the  decaying  trunks  proving  their  longevity. 
Man,  impelled  by  motives  w€  cannot  fathom,  had 
abandoned  the  districts  where  everything  bears  wit- 
ness to  his  power  and  intelligence,  and  the  vigorous 
vegetation  of  nature  once  more  has  it  all  its  own  way. 

The  most  remarkable  group  of  prehistoric  fortifica- 
tions in  North  America  is  perhaps  that  near  Newark, 
in  the  valley  of  the  Scioto.  It  includes  an  octagonal 
enceinte  eighty  acres  in  area,  a  square  enceinte  of 
twenty  acres,  with  two  others,  one  twenty  the  other 
thirty  acres  in  extent.  The  walls  of  the  great  circle 
are  still  twelve  feet  high  by  fifty  feet  wide  at  the  base. 
They  are  protected  by  an  interior  fosse  seven  feet  deep 
by  thirty-five  feet  wide.  According  to  measurements 
carefully  made  by  Colonel  Whittlesey,^  the  total  area 
covered  by  these  intrenchments  is  no  less  than  twelve 
square  miles,  and  the  length  of  the  mounds  exceeds 
two  miles.  The  large  entrances  protected  by  mounds 
thirty-five  feet  high,  the  avenues  leading  to  them  whicli 
are  regular  labyrinths,  the  quaintly  shaped  mounds — 
one,  for  instance,  re2)resents  the  foot  of  a  gigantic  bird — 
all  combine  to  strike  the  visitor  with  astonishment. 
We  give  a  I'epresentation  (Fig.  86)  of  a  group,  not 
unlike  that  we  have  Just  described,  which  is  situated  at 
Liberty    (Ohio),    and   includes   two   circles   and   one 

'  "  Ancient  .Muiumiciits  of  the  Mississippi  Valley." 


CAMPS,    FORTIFICATIONS. 


299 


square.  The  diameter  of  the  great  circle  is  1,700  feet, 
and  it  encloses  an  area  of  forty  aci'es,  whilst  that  of  the 
smaller  enceinte  is  500  feet ;  the  ai*ea  of  the  square,  each 
side  of  which  measures  1,080  feet,  is  twenty-seven 
acres.  The  walls  ai'e  not  strengthened  by  any  ditch, 
and,  contrary  to  general  usage,  the  earth  of  which  they 
are  made  was  dug  out  from  the  inside  of  the  enceinte 
itself.     We    may    also    mention    Old    Foi-t    (Greenup 


Fig.  86. — Group  at  Liberty  (Ohio). 

County,  Kentucky),  successively  described  by  Caleb 
Atwater,  Squier,  and  J.  H.  Lewis.  It  is  situated  forty 
feet  above  the  river,  and  the  total  length  of  the  walls 
exceeds  3,175  feet.  Six  entrances  give  access  to  it,  and 
in  the  centre  rises  a  mound  representing  some  animal, 
a  bear  probably,  measuring  more  than  105  feet.  Sev- 
eral small  mounds,  beneath  which  were  found  liuman 
bones,  cluster  about  the  larger  one. 


300  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

We  must  uot  omit  to  name  an  extraordinary  system 
of  intrenchments  at  Juigalpa,  in  Nicai'agua,  which  so 
far  as  I  know  is  quite  unique.  This  is  a  series  of 
trenches  extending  for  several  miles  (  Fig.  87  ),  vaiying 
in  width  from  nine  and  a  half  to  thirteen  feet ;  at 
equal  distances  are  oval  reservoirs,  the  longest  axis  of 
which  measures  as  much  as  seventy-eight  feet.     In  each 


Fig.   87. — Trenches  at  Juigalpa  (Nicaragua). 

reservoir  are  two  or  four  mounds,  probably  serving  as 
watch-towers.  We  know  nothing  eithei*  of  the  people 
who  erected  these  sins^ular  structures  or  of  the  enemy 
from  whom  they  formed  a  protection.  Nor  can  any- 
thing be  guessed  as  to  the  way  in  which  the  defence 
was  conducted.  All  is  involved  in  obscurity,  and  at 
every  turn  we  are  compelled  to  repeat  that  prehistoric 
studies  are  weighted  with  uncertainty,  long  and  arduous 
study  })eing  necessaiy  to  bring  ever  so  little  order  into 
the  chaos  in  which  everything  connected  with  them  is 
involved. 

AVe  must  cursorily  refer  to  some  other  fortifications 
which  really  scarcely  belong  to  our  subject,  though 
certain  archaeologists  claim  for  them  a  prehistoricT 
orio-in.  AVe  refer  to  the  vitrified  forts,  which  are 
strange  structui'es  in  which  stones,  such  as  gi'anite  and 
gneiss,  quartzite  and  basalt,  have  been  subjected  to  a 
heat  so  intense  as  to  produce  vitrification. 

These  vitrified  forts  are  enceintes^  generally  of  round 
or  elliptical  foi'm,  cai'efully  erected  where  they  were 
most  needed  for  defence,  and  protected  by  one  or  more 


VTTRIFTED    FORl'S.  30I 

ramparts.^  The  ramparts  all  bear  traces  of  vitrifi- 
cation, more  or  less  complete,  which  has,  so  to  speak, 
cemented  them  together.  The  vitrification  is  very 
unequal,  being  complete  in  some  parts  and  scarcely 
noticeable  in  others.  It  is  evident  that  the  builders 
did  not  know  how  to  direct  their  fire  uniformly. 

Ever  since  1777  vitrified  forts  have  been  known  in 
Scotland,  and  until  1837  they  were  supposed  to  exist 
nowhere  else.  About  that  time,  however.  Professor 
Zippe  called  attention  to  similar  ruins  in  Bohemia, 
and  later  it  was  announced  that  discoveries  of  the 
same  kind  had  been  made  in  various  parts  of  France, 
Denmark,  and  Norway.  Vircho^v  speaks  of  the 
Scldaken  Wdlle,  or  ramparts  of  vitrified  scoria,  near 
Kern  '^  and  Schaaf hausen,  and  gave  an  account  of  them 
at  a  meetino;  of  German  naturalists  at  Ratisbon.  It 
would  be  easy  to  multiply  instances.  Vitrified  walls 
are  known  in  the  Puy-de-D6me,  in  which  the  facing  is 
of  clay,  and  draught  flues,  for  regulating  and  fanning 
the  flames,  have  been  made  out.  At  Castel-Sarrazin  is 
a  camp  refuge  with  similar  dispositions,^  and  recently 
Daubree  presented  to  the  Academie  des  Sciences  a 
piece  of  porphyry  artificially  vitrified  from  the  pre- 
historic enceinte  of  Hartmannswiller  Kopf  in  Upper 
Alsace."* 

It  is  in  Scotland,  however,  that  are  situated  the 
most  remarkable  vitrified  forts.  A  few  years  ago  no 
less  than  forty-four  were  counted.  The  most  cele- 
brated are  those  of  Barry  Hill  and  Castle  Spynie  in 

'See  Dr.  Hibbert  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  of 
Scotland,  vol.  iv.,  Appendix,  p.  iSi. 

"^  Zeitschrift  fur  Ethnographie,  1870,   p.  270. 

^Pomerol:   "  Murailles  Vitrifiees  de  Chateauneuf,"  Ass.  Fran^.,  Blois,  1884. 

^  Congres  Soc.  Sav.,  Sorbonne,  1882. 


302  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

Invernesshire,  Top-0-Noth  iu  Aberdeen,  and  a  small 
fort  which  rises  from  a  lofty  rock  in  the  midst  of  the 
Strait  of  Bute.  Vitrified  cairns  also  occur  in  the 
Orkney  Islands,  notably  on  the  little  isle  of  Sanday, 
but  the  most  interesting  structures  of  the  kind  are 
Craig  Phoedrick  and  Ord  Hill  of  Kissock,  which  i-ise  up 
like  luige  pillars  on  the  hills  at  the  entrance  of  Moray 
Firth,  at  a  distance  of  three  miles  fi"om  each  other/ 

Craig  Phcedrick  is  now  covered  with  a  luxuriant 
vegetation  of  broom,  furze,  and  fern,  with  groves  of  firs 
and  larclies,  amongst  which  the  explorer  makes  his 
way  with  difficulty  to  the  fortifications,  or  rather  to 
the  piles  of  massive  blocks  to  which  that  name  has 
been  given.  These  blocks  foi'in  an  acropolis  of  oval 
foi-m,  the  upper  part  of  which  is  a  flat  terrace  encir- 
cling a  central  basin  some  six  and  a  half  to  nine  and  a 
half  feet  deep,  wliich  may  be  compared  to  the  craters  of 
the  extinct  volcanoes  of  Auvergne.  The  sides  of  the 
mound  are  strewn  with  cyclopean  blocks  of  vitrified 
granite,  which  evidently  originally  formed  part  of  the 
fortificaticMis.  It  is  on  the  eastern  side,  overlooking 
the  valley  of  the  Ness,  that  the  buildings  are  of  the 
greatest  importance ;  two  terraces  can  be  made  out, 
the  lower  projecting  beyond  the  upper,  forming  a 
double  sei'ies  of  almost  perpendicular  fortifications, 
constructed  of  vitrified  blocks  cemented  toixether  with 
thin  layers  of  mortar,  spread  without  any  attem[)t  at 
regularity.  The  blocks  foi'ra,  with  the  moi'tar,  a  con- 
glomerate so  compact  that  wlien  struck  an  ith  a  hammer 
they  break  without  separating.  Examination  of  frag- 
ments under  the  mici-oscope  prove  that  they  have  gone 

'  J.    Marion  :    />'«/.   des    Soc.    Savaii/rs,  4th  series,    vol.   iv.      Daubree  :    Rev. 
Arch.,  July,  1881. 


VITRIFIED   FORTS.  303 

tlirougli  important  mineralogical  trausforinations,  under 
tlie  influence  of  what  must  have  been  an  extremely 
high  temperature.  The  heat  must  have  been  indeed 
intense  which  could  cause  mica  to  disappear  entirely, 
and  feldspar  to  melt  almost  C()m[)letely. 

The  hill  known  as  Ord  Hill  of  Kissock  is  crowned, 
as  is  Craig  Phoedrick,  with  ruins  still  standing,  but  the 
vegetation  about  them  is  so  dense  and  thorny  that  it 
is  difficult  to  make  out  the  condition  of  the  remains. 
The  ruins,  which  can  only  be  seen  from  one  side, 
ap[K'ar  liowever  to  have  formed  part  of  foi'tifications, 
dating  from  the  same  time  and  serving  the  same  pur- 
])ose  as  those  of  Craig  Ph(edrick.  Were  they  forts? 
Tliere  is  certainly  no  sign  of  their  having  been  used  as 
habitations.  Or  were  they,  as  some  archaeologists  are 
disposed  to  thiidv,  beacon  houses  used  for  warning  the 
[>eople  of  the  ap[)roach  of  the  Norman  pirates  or 
Scandinavian  vikings,  whose  depredations  \vere  not 
discontinued  until  the  eighth  century  of  the  Christian 
era  ?  Hypotheses  are  always  easy,  but  proofs  of  these 
hypotheses  are  difficult  to  find,  and  we  confess  we  have 
none  to  bring  forward.  ^ 

Passing  to  France,  we  find  the  greater  number  of 
vitrified  forts  in  the  Departement  de  la  Creuse.  At 
Chateau vieux  is  an  enceinte  of  oval  form,  416  feet 
wide  at  its   broadest  part.  ^     An  earthwork,   22  feet 

'  Sir  J.  Lubbock  compares  the  ruins  of  Aztalan,  in  America,  with  the  vitrified 
forts  of  Scotland  ;  but  we  think  this  is  a  mistake,  for  the  walls  ol  Aztalan  con- 
sisted of  irregularly  shaped  masses  of  hard,  reddish  clay,  full  of  hollows,  retain- 
ing the  impression  of  the  straw  or  dried  grass  with  which  the  clay  was  mixed 
before  it  was  subjected  to  the  action  of  heat,  whether  tlie  apidication  of  that 
heat  was  intentional  or  accidental.  There  is  nothing  about  tliis  at  all  re- 
sembling the  melted  granite  of  the  vitrified  forts. 

*  De  Cassac  :  "  Notes  sur  les  Forts  Vitrifies  de  la  Creuse."  Thuot :  "  La 
Forteresse  \'itrifieedu  Pay  de  Ciaudy,"  p.  I02. 


304  PRRHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

wide  at  the  base,  serves  as  foundation  to  a  wall,  the 
outer  and  inner  portions  of  which  consist  of  small 
granite  stones,  arranged  in  reguhir  layers.  The  space 
between  the  two  series  of  small  stones  is  filled  in  with 
a  sheet  of  melted  granite,  some  twenty-four  inches  wide, 
resting  on  calcareous  tufa.  The  whole  mass  is  com- 
pletely vitrified,  and  regular  geodes  or  nodules  lined 
with  crystals  and  draped  with  pendent  drops  of  melted 
rock  have  been  produced. 

The  ancient  fortress  of  Ribandelle,  of  circular  form, 
rises  above  the  Creuse,  opposite  Ch^teauvieux.  It  was 
successively  occupied  by  the  Celts,  the  Romans,  and 
the  Visigoths,  but  we  are  unable  to  fix  the  date  of  its 
ei'ection  or  the  name  of  the  people  who  built  it.  There 
remain  but  a  few  ruins  at  the  present  day,  but  we  can 
make  out  in  them  the  same  mode  of  construction  as 
that  followed  at  Chateauvieux.  The  walls  are  faced 
with  unhewn  stones,  the  outer  side  of  which  still 
retains  a  natural  appearance,  while  the  inner  is  cor- 
roded and  disintegrated.  In  the  wall  itself,  separated 
from  the  facings  by  beds  of  peat  mould,  are  great 
blocks  of  vitrified  granite.  The  traces  of  the  action  of 
fire  are  specially  noticeable  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
walls,  so  that  they  were  evidently  finished  when  the 
fusion  took  place. 

The  site  of  the  furnace  in  these  forts  is  difficult  to 
determine.  It  was  evidently  not  situated  under  any 
of  the  blocks,  for  the  earthworks  on  which  they  rest 
retain  no  traces  of  the  action  of  fire.  Nor  was  it  situ- 
ated at  the  side,  for  the  outer  facin^is  have  retained 
alike  their  original  form  and  consistency.  Nor  can 
the  furnace  have  been  lit  on  the  blocks,  as  heat  exer- 
cises its  action  by  radiating  in  every  direction.     We 


VITRIFIED   FORTS.  305 

are  therefore  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  fire  was 
spread  with  the  aid  of  spaces  left  in  the  inside  of  the 
construction  at  vai-ious  points,  for  the  vitrified  mass  is 
divided  into  blocks,  about  nine  and  three  fourths  feet 
long,  at  very  short  distances  from  each  other. 

These  few  examples  will  be  enough  to  give  some 
idea  of  the  strange  vitrified  forts.  Many  of  them 
retain  traces  of  Koman  occupation.  The  Gueret 
Museum  possesses  a  fi-agment  from  the  RiV)andelle 
walls  in  which  a  Roman  tile  is  completely  imbedded; 
and  M.  Thuot  picked  up  other  tiles  in  a  similar  condi- 
tion amongst  the  ruins.  This  is  a  very  decided 
proof  that  the  viti'ification  took  place  after  the  ai'rival 
of  the  conquerors  of  Gaul.  The  \veapons  and  tools 
discovered  would  appear  to  confirm  this  idea,  and  to 
suggest  similar  explanations  of  vitrification  elsewhei'e. 
If  so,  we  shall  have  to  admit  that  vitrified  forts  date 
from  the  earliest  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  and 
are  not  pi-ehistoric  at  all.  We  have,  ho^vever,  noticed 
them  hei'e  on  account  of  the  grave  doubts  in  the 
matter,  and  because  they  furnish  a  striking  and  valu- 
able illustration  of  the  relations  existing  from  the 
most  remote  times  between  widely  separated  races, 
and  maintained  until  the  present  time.  In  no  other 
way  can  we  account  for  the  practice  of  the  exti'emely 
difiicult  and  complicated  operation  of  the  vitrification 
of  hard  rocks  in  districts  so  far  apart  as  Norway  and 
Scotland,  Germany  and  the  midlands  of  France. 

The  more  we  think  of  the  difliculties  vitrification 
presents,  the  greater  is  our  astonishment.  How  was 
the  fusion  achieved  of  elements  so  I'efractory  alike  in 
their  structure  and  in  the  resistance  offei'ed  by  accumu- 
lated masses  of  matei'ial  ?     By  what  processes  was  heat 


306  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

brought  U2^  to  the  1300  degrees  necessary  for  the  fusion 
of  granite  ?  The  incineration  and  fusion  of  the  ma- 
terials of  which  the  viti'Ified  forts  are  made,  especially 
the  granite  ones  of  La  Creuse  and  the  Cotes  du  Nord, 
bear  witness,  says  Daubree,  to  a  surprising  skill  and 
knowledge  of  the  management  of  fii'e  in  those  who 
burned  them,  but  these  qualities  were  manifested  also  in 
extremely  ancient  metallurgical  operations.  It  is  quite 
impossible  to  suppose  the  vitrification  to  have  been  the 
result  of  a  conflagration.  No  fire,  whether  accidental 
or  the  work  of  an  incendiary,  could  be  poweiiul  enough 
to  produce  such  results.  The  use  of  petroleum  in  the 
most  terrible  conflas-rations  of  our  own  time— those  of 
the  Commune  in  1871,  for  instance — did  calcine  and 
disintegrate  stone,  but  I  know  of  no  case  of  vitrifica- 
tion. 

The  Keramic  Museum  of  Sevres  contains  several 
specimens  which  present  very  notable  differences  to 
each  other.  Those  from  Chateau-Goutier  ai-e  formed 
of  very  close-grained  quartzite  granite  of  a  greenish 
color  streaked  with  black.  The  conglomerate  welding 
them  together  is  a  vitrified  scoria  full  of  very  small 
bubbles  made  by  the  escape  of  gas  which  had  not  had 
sufficient  strength  to  get  out.  The  block  from  Sainte- 
Suzanne  (Mayenne)  consists  of  quartz  mixed  with 
half  calcined  grains  of  feldspar,  bleached  by  the  action 
of  fused  glass,  which  once  introduced  filled  up  as  it 
congealed  all  the  vacant  spaces  with  a  vitreous  sub- 
stance of  light  greenish-white  color.  The  fractures 
are  green  and  bright,  and  are  dotted  with  \vhite  points, 
which  are  all  that  is  left  of  the  stones  after  their  dis- 
integi'ation  in  the  grip  of  a  heat  that  was  alike  intense 
and  rapid  in  its  action.     The  fragments  brought  from 


VITRIFIED  FORTS.  'ijO'J 

Scotland  differ  from  those  Just  described.  They  con- 
sist of  small  pieces  of  granite  completely  merged  in  a 
thick  paste  with  which  they  form  the  mass,  the  whole 
breaking  together  when  it  does  break  ;  and  the  melted 
matter  seldom  has  any  bubbles  in  it/ 

The  process  employed  in  cementing  the  materials  of 
the  vitrified  forts  was  then  perfectly  unique.  The  pro- 
cesses employed  to  obtain  the  necessary  heat  vaiied 
according;  to  circumstances  and  accordini>:  to  the  nature 
of  the  materials  used.  At  Sainte-Suzanne  and  at  La 
Courbe  marine  salt  was  used  as  a  flux.  Captain 
Prcvot'  thinks  that  the  walls  were  smeared  with  a 
coating  of  clay,  and  that  as  in  the  baking  of  bricks 
spaces  were  left  between  so  as  to  produce  more  in- 
tense heat.  M.  de  Montaiglon  is  of  opinion  that  the 
l)uildings  were  in  the  first  instance  erected  without  the 
use  of  any  calcareous  or  argillaceous  material,  and  that 
glass  in  a  state  of  fusion  was  poured  over  them  after- 
^vards,  this  2:lass  consolidating!:  them  and  formino;  with 
them  one  indestructiljle  mass.  M.  Tliuot  seems  much 
disposed  to  share  this  last  opinion,  but  he  thinks  that 
some  chemical  materials  such  as  soda  or  potash  were  also 
used.  Yet  one  other  possible  solution  may  be  men- 
tioned, a  solution  which  is  becoming  more  and  more  gen- 
ei'ally  accepted,  namely  that  the  granite  was  not  after 
all  really  melted,  but  that  the  vitrification  should 
either  be  attributed  to  the  fusion  of  the  argillaceous 
mass,  which  has  been  subjected  to  an  igneous  trans- 
formation, such  as  that  which  often  takes  place  in 
furnaces  for  bakins;  bricks  and  in  lime-kilns.^ 


'  We  take  most  of  these  details  from  a  note  by  M.   A.   de  Montaiglon  pub- 
lished in  the  Bulletin  des  Soci^t/s  Savantes. 
'  Mat.,  1881,  p.  371. 
^  Bill.  Soc.  Anth.,  1884,  p.  816,  etc. 


308  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

Whatever  explanation  we  may  accept,  however, 
the  processes  employed  certainly  bear  witness  to  a 
much  more  advanced  state  of  civilization  than  was 
acquired  in  the  earliest  ages  of  humanity.  We  have 
been  led  by  the  great  interest  and  mystery  of  the  sub- 
ject to  dwell  longer  on  it  than  we  intended,  and  we 
must  hasten  to  return  to  prehistoric  times  with  a 
determination  not  to  transgress  again. 

Fortifications  are  a  proof  of  combined  action  lead- 
ing to  a  common  end ;  they  imply  social  organization, 
chiefs  to  command,  workmen  to  obey.  A  recent  dis- 
covery enables  us  to  form  a  very  accurate  picture  of 
prehistoric  men  gathered  together  not  only  for  pur- 
poses of  defence,  but  in  a  society  ali'eady  rich,  indus- 
trious, and,  if  we  may  so  speak,  learning  to  cultivate 
the  arts  of  peace. 

The  ^gean  Sea  has  ever  been  the  theatre  of  igneous 
phenomena,  and  the  three  little  islands  of  Thera,  Thera- 
sia,  and  Aspronisi,  which  shut  in  the  Bay  of  Santorin, 
are  built  up  chiefly  of  volcanic  materials.^  In  1573 
an  em [)tive  cone  suddenly  appeared  ;  in  1707  the  in- 
liabitants  of  Santorin  saw  rise  up  a  short  distance  from 
their  shores  a  rock  that  increased  in  size  for  several  days 
and  then  suddenly  split  up.  This  splitting  up  was  suc- 
ceeded by  a  great  erupti(  )n  of  incandescent  materials ;  an 
eruption  which  lasted  for  no  less  than  five  years,  forming 
at  the  end  of  that  time  an  island  some  400  feet  high  by 
3,279  feet  in  cii'cumference.  In  1866,  after  many  violent 
shocks  of  earthquake,  the  ground  was  rent  asunder  on 
this  island  and  masses  of  volcanic  matter  "were  belched 
forth,  whilst  on  the  other  si<le  of  the  island  the  soil 
sank  to  such  a  degree  that  canoes  were  used  to  get  to 

'  Fouque,  Nature,  1876,  second  week,  p.  65. 


SANTONIN.  309 

houses  which  but  the  day  before  were  nine  feet  abov^e 
the  sea-level.  .  This  eruption  went  on  until  1870, 
and  the  quantity  of  scoriae  vomited  forth  during  its 
continuance  welded  three  islets,  which  had  hitherto 
been  separate,  to  the  principal  island,  of  which  they 
now  form  part.  On  entering  the  Bay  of  Santorin  we 
see  on  every  side  banks  of  lava,  beds  of  scoriae,  and 
piles  of  cinders  of  a  purplish-gray  color  rising  in  cliffs 
to  a  height  of  more  than  1,312  feet.  All  these  ma- 
terials are  the  i^esult  of  innumerable  eruptions,  and 
the  central  crater  of  the  volcano  is  probably  situated 
about  the  middle  of  the  bay.  It  is  supposed  that  at 
one  time  a  conical  mountain,  from  1,958  to  2,600  feet 
high,  rose  where  soundings  now  give  a  depth  of  water 
of  over  1,300  feet.  A  sudden  break  up  of  the  moun- 
tain probably  produced  this  abyss,  and  formidable 
eruptions  have  led  to  the  pouring  forth  of  immense 
quantities  of  pumice-stone.  The  three  islets  mentioned 
above  would  be  the  remains  of  the  old  central  cone, 
and  a  bed  of  pumice-stone  from  98  to  131  feet  thick  is 
spread  over  the  whole  of  their  surface,  telling  of  a 
violent  cataclysm  of  which  neither  history  nor  tradition 
has  preserved  the  memory. 

The  letters  of  Pliny  the  Younger  ^  say  that  the  erup- 
tion of  Vesuvius  which  caused  the  destruction  of 
Portici  lasted  five  days,  and  we  know  that  the  houses 
are  covered  with  a  uniformly  distributed  bed  of  pum- 
ice-stone some  thirteen  feet  thick,  and  of  cinders  about 
three  feet  thick.  Everything  points  to  the  conclusion 
that  a  very  similar  catastrophe  overtook  Santorin  ;  there 
too  whole  villages  were  buried  beneath  cinders,  stones, 

'  Book  vi.,  chap.  xvi.  and  xx. — Pliny  the  Elder,  uncle  and  father  by  adoption 
of  Pliny  the  Younger,  lost  his  life  in  this  catastrophe,  which  took  place  in  79  A.D. 


3IO  rREHJSTOKIC  PEOPLES. 

and  molten  l;iv;i,  belclled  forth  by  a  volcano  In  acciou ; 
tliere  too  men  were  the  witnesses  and  the  victims  of 
the  eruption,  as  is  proved  by  an  accidental  circum- 
stance which  took  place  some  twenty-three  years  after.' 
The  removal  of  the  pouzzolana,  so  called  after  the 
volcanic  ashes  of  Pozzuoli  in  Italy  for  the  works  on 
the  Isthmus  of  Suez,  necessitated  important  excavations, 
and  the  cuttings  revealed  the  existence  of  dwellings 
which  had  been  hidden  Jivvay  from  the  light  of  day  for 
many  centuries.  The  masses  of  rubbish  hiding  these 
prehistoric  ruins  were  some  sixty-five  feet  high,  and 
consisted  chiefly  of  volcanic  ashes  piled  up,  for  some 
accidental  reason,  in  comparatively  modern  times. 
Beneath  the  pouzzolana  a  thin  layer  of  humus  con- 
tains fragments  of  pottery  of  Hellenic  origin  ;  which 
marks  the  close  of  the  historic  period,  and  covers  over 
the  mass  of  pumiceous  tufa  vomited  out  by  the  vol- 
cano. It  was  in  this  tufa,  which  is  eight  feet  thick, 
that  the  first  signs  of  buildings  were  discovered.  Fur- 
ther excavation  brought  to  light  two  houses  with 
doors,  windows,  and  bearing  walls.  In  one  of  these 
houses  there  were  five  different  rooms.  Other  dis- 
coveries rapidly  succeeded  each  other,  alike  in  the 
island  of  Therasia  and  at  Acrotiri,  the  principal 
island,  which  has  given  its  name  to  the  group.  The 
plan  of  these  houses  is  an  irregular  parallelogram,  the 
amrles  of  which  are  rounded  and  the  sides  more  or  less 
curved.  This  arrangement  differs  greatly  from  that 
adopted  in  Greece  as  well  as  from  that  in  use  at 
Therasia  after  the  time  of  the  volcanic  eruptions.    The 

'  Cigalla :  Acad,  des  Sciences,  November  12,  1866.  Fouque' :  Acad,  des 
Sciences,  March  25,  1867.  "  Un  Pompei  Prehistorique,"  Revue  des  Deux- 
Mondes,  October  15,  1869. 


SAN  TOR  IN.  311 

houses  too  are  quite  different  iu  their  mode  of  construc- 
tion. The  walls  consist  of  great  blocks  of  lava  placed 
one  above  the  other,  without  any  trace  of  cement  or  of 
lime,  and  are  merely  kept  in  place  by  a  reddish  earth 
mixed  with  chopped  straw  or  marine  algae.  Large 
branches  of  olive  or  cypress  trees,  still  with  the  bark 
on,  are  imbedded  iu  the  masoniy.  These  pieces  of 
wood,  the  size  of  which  varies  considerably,  were  prob- 
ably added  to  give  the  necessary  solidity  to  the  walls  in 
the  numerous  earthquakes,  the  disastrous  effects  of  which 
were  only  too  well  known  to  the  ancient  inhabitants 
of  Santorin.  It  is  curious  and  interesting  to  note  the 
use  of  the  same  expedient  among  the  inhabitants  of 
•the  islands  of  the  Archipelago  who  are  still  exposed 
to  the  same  dano-er.  The  doors  and  windows  are 
clumsily  arched,  and  the  roof  seems  to  have  been  a 
low  vault.  It  was  made  of  stones  and  coated  with  clay 
and  supported  by  the  trunks  of  olive  trees,  the  charred 
remains  of  which  lay  upon  the  floors  of  the  crushed 
homes.  These  trunks  show  no  sign  of  having  been 
touched  with  metal  tools ;  not  a  metal  nail  or  clamp 
has  been  found,  and  we  cannot  but  conclude  that  the 
remains  belong  to  the  age  when  stone  alone  was 
employed. 

The  inside  walls  were  not  glazed  or  decorated  in 
any  way,  except  in  one  instance,  that  of  a  house  at 
Acrotiri,  from  which  the  rubbish  has  been  cleared 
away,  revealing  on  the  walls  a  layer  of  lime  on  which 
was  some  colored  ornamentation  which  still  retained 
-an  extraordinary  brilliancy  when  it  was  discovered. 

In  all  the  houses  and  in  every  room  of  each  were 
found  beneath  the  tufa  burying  them  masses  of  lava 
and  volcanic  scoriae,  forming  a  most  eloquent  witness 


312  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

of  the  cause  of  their  destruction.  Near  one  of  the 
houses  of  Therasia  is  a  little  cylindrical  structure, 
about  three  feet  higli ;  which  cannot  have  been  a  Avell, 
as  it  rests  directly  on  impermeable  lava,  and  was 
certainly  not  a  cistern,  as  it  is  too  small  for  that.  May 
it,  as  some  think,  have  been  an  altar?  We  cannot  tell, 
and  though  the  religious  sentiment  was  probably  no 
more  absent  among  these  primitive  races  than  it  is  among 
the  barbarous  peoples  of  our  own  day,  it  does  not  do 
to  express  an  opinion  in  the  absence  of  positive  proof. 
Successive  excavations  have  yielded  a  number  of 
objects  which  throw  a  new  light  upon  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  inhabitants.  Terra-cotta  vases  are  more 
numerous  than  anything  else  (Fig.  88),  and  among 
them  pi'e[)onderate  large  yellow  vessels  capable  of 
holding  about  one  hundred  cpiarts.  Most  of  them 
have  a  clumsy  brim,  and  a  rough  attempt  has  been 
made  at  ornamentation  by  the  potter  Avith  his  fingers 
on  the  damp  clay.  Other  vases  of  finer  clay,  colored 
red  or  yellow,  are  covered  with  ornaments  and  graceful 
arabesques ;  the  garlands  of  fruit  and  flowers  are  often 
of  remai'kably  beautiful  workmanship.  Cups  with 
well-shaped  rounded  handles,  made  of  some  kind  of 
red  ferruginous  earth,  others  of  gray  material,  were 
picked  up  in  all  the  houses.  These  various  vessels 
were  used  for  many  different  2>iii'P^^^'^  '•>  some  to  cook 
food,  the  marks  of  the  hearth  being  still  on  them, 
whilst  others  retained  some  of  the  cho|)ped  straw  with 
which  the  domestic  animals  had  evidently  been  fed. 
The  most  curious  of  all  are  those  which  are  suj)posed 
to  represent  a  woman  ;  the  front  part  projecting  and 
surmounted  by  a  narrow  neck  bent  backwards,  with 
two  brown  prominences  supposed  to  stand  for  breasts, 


314  PKFJIISrORIC  PEOPLES. 

and  (lots  ruiind  the  iip[)er  part  representing  a  necklace, 
while  ear-rings  are  indicated  by  elliptical  bands  of 
different  colors.  We  shall  have  to  refer  again  to  these 
curious  vases  when  we  S[)eak  of  the  discoveries  made 
at  Troy  ;  we  need  only  add  now  that  the  pottery  found 
at  Santorin  differs  completely,  alike  in  form  and  orna- 
mentation, from  the  Greek,  Phoenician,  and  Etruscan 
specimens,  of  which  the  museums  of  Europe  contain  so 
many.  They  are  evidently  therefore  not  of  foreign 
oriijin,  but  of  native  manufacture.  The  absence  of 
clay  in  the  island  of  Santorin  has  thrown  some  doubt 
on  this,  however,  but  the  researches  of  M.  Fou(pie 
have  revealed  the  former  existence  of  a  large  valley,  at 
the  base  of  the  principal  cone,  which  valley  ran  down 
to  the  sea-shore  near  the  island  of  Asprouisi  ;  and  in 
which  probably  was  found  the  clay  which  the  potters 
of  the  district  soon  learned  to  turn  to  account. 

With  these  vases  were  found  some  troughs  for  liold- 
ing  crushed  grain,  and  lava  discs  very  much  like  those 
still  in  use  among  the  weavers  of  the  Archipelago  to 
stretch  the  woof  of  their  tissues  ;  skilfully  graduated 
lava  weights,  the  correlation  of  which  is  very  evident, 
as  they  weigh  8,  24,  and  96  ounces ;  a  "Sint  arrow- 
head and  a  saw  of  the  same  material  ^vith  resiular 
teeth ;  together  with  a  great  variety  of  other  objects, 
including  many  obsidian  arrow^s  and  knives,  reminding 
us  in  their  shape  of  those  characteristic  of  the  Stone 
age  in  North  Europe. 

Two  rings  of  gold  beaten  very  thin,  and  a  little 
copper  saw  with  no  trace  of  any  alloy,  are,  so  far,  the 
only  metal  objects  found  in  the  excavations.  The 
origin  of  the  former,  moreover,  is  very  uncertain,  and 
there  has  been  much  discussion  as  to  where  the  rings 


SAN  TORI N.  315 

came  from.  In  spite,  however,  of  all  the  gaps  in  the 
evidence  about  them,  there  remains  no  doubt  that  the 
inhabitants  of  Santorin  were  farther  advanced  in 
civilization  than  the  Lake  dwellers  of  Switzerland,  the 
builders  of  the  terremare  of  Italy,  or  the  Iberians  of 
the  south  of  Spain,  who  were  very  probably  their  con- 
temporaries; and  we  cannot  refrain  from  expressing 
our  admiration  of  the  wonderful  progress  made  by  the 
inhabitants  of  the  little  group  of  volcanic  islands  under 
notice. 

Before  the  catastrophe  which  overwhelmed  them, 
Santorin  was  covered  with  comfortable  and  solidly 
built  houses.  Men  knew  how  to  till  the  ground,  and 
gathered  in  crops  of  cereals,  among  which  barley  was 
the  most  abundant,  then  millet,  lentils,  peas,  coriander, 
and  anise ;  they  had  learned  to  domesticate  animals,  as 
is  proved  beyond  a  doubt  by  the  number  of  bones  of 
sheep  and  goats ;  they  kept  dogs  to  guard  their  flocks, 
and  horses  to  aid  in  agricultural  work ;  they  knew  how 
to  weave  stuffs,  to  grind  grain,  to  exti'act  the  oil  from 
olives,  and  even  to  make  cheese,  if  we  may  give  that 
name  to  the  pasty  white  stuff  found  at  the  bottom  of 
a  vase  by  Dr.  Nomicos.  They  were  acquainted  with 
the  arch,  and  they  used  durable  and  brilliant  colors. 
The  copper  saw  is  an  example  of  the  first  efforts  of 
the  natives  at  metallurgy ;  the  gold  and  obsidian  which 
were  foreign  to  the  island  bear  witness  to  commercial 
relations  with  people  at  a  distance.  They  loved  art,  as 
proved  by  the  shape  of  their  vases  and  the  ornamenta- 
tion on  many  of  them,  which  is  really  often  worthy  of 
the  best  days  of  Greece,  All  around  we  see  signs 
appearing  as  it  were  suddenly  of  a  civilization,  the 
origin  and  tendencies  of  which  are  alike  still  unknown. 


3l6  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

But  one  human  skeleton  has  so  far  been  found  in 
Santorin,  and  that  is  of  an  inhabitant  who  had  evi- 
dently been  overtaken  in  his  flight  and  crushed 
beneath  the  burning  scoriae  from  the  volcano.  This 
man  was  of  medium  height,  and  is  supposed  to  have 
been  between  forty  and  forty-eight  years  old.  The 
bones  of  the  pelvis  are  firmly  consolidated,  and  the 
teeth  are  worn  with  mastication. 

Let  us  endeavor  to  guess  at  the  period  when  the 
people  of  Santorin  lived.  De  Longperier  tells  us  that 
vases  similar  to  those  left  by  them  are  represented  on 
the  tomb  of  Kekmara  amongst  the  presents  offered  to 
Thothmes  III.,  who  lived  in  the  eighth  century  e.g., 
but  if  so  the  people  of  Santorin  appear  to  have  bor- 
rowed nothing  in  their  intercourse  with  Egy[)t.  The 
first  invasion  of  Greece  by  the  Phoenicians  is  supposed 
to  have  been  in  the  fifteenth  century  b.c,  but  the 
buildings,  the  pottery,  and  the  various  implements 
of  Therasia  and  Acrotiri  differ  essentially  from  those 
of  the  Phfeuicians,  who,  moreover,  from  the  earliest 
times,  used  metals.  Must  we  not  therefore  conclude 
that  the  catastrophe  which  overwhelmed  Santorin 
took  place  before  the  fifteenth  century  b.c.  ?  Con- 
jectures as  to  the  date  of  the  fatal  eruption,  however 
plausible,  are  of  no  use  in  anything  relating  to  the 
origin  of  the  people,  or  the  time  of  their  first  occupa- 
tion of  the  island.  On  these  points  all  is  still  hope- 
less confusion,  and  we  must  wait  for  further  discoveries 
before  we  can  hope  to  come  to  any  conclusions  in  the 
matter. 

We  have  gone  back  to  the  very  earliest  days  of  man 
upon  the  earth  ;  we  have  shown  that  he  was  the  con- 
temporary of  the  mammoth  and  the  rhinoceros,  of  the 


THE    TOWNS    UPON-    THE   HILL    OP  HISSARLIK.       317 

cave-lion  and  the  cave-bear ;  we  have  seen  him  crouch- 
ing in  the  deep  recesses  of  his  cave  and  fighting  the 
battle  of  life  with  no  weapon  bnt  a  few  scarcely 
sharpened  flints,  leading  an  existence  infinitely  more 
\vretched  than  the  animals  about  him.  Not  without 
emotion  have  we  watched  our  remote  ancestors  in  their 
ceaseless  struggle  for  existence ;  not  without  emotion 
have  we  seen  them  gradually  growing  in  intelligence 
and  energy,  and  attaining  by  slow  degrees  to  a  certain 
amount  of  civilization.  Santorin  is  a  striking  and 
brilliant  proof  of  their  progress,  and  we  shall  appre- 
ciate this  progress  yet  more  when  we  have  examined 
the  ruins  jailed  up  on  the  hill  of  Hissarlik.  There  we 
shall  close  this  portion  of  our  work,  for  fi-om  the  time 
when  the  building's  of  which  these  remains  were  the 
relics  met  their  doom,  the  use  of  metals,  copj  )er,  bronze, 
gold,  silver,  and  iron  became  general.  History  began 
to  be  written,  and  it  is  her  task  to  tell  us  of  the  migra- 
tions of  races,  the  early  efforts  of  historic  races,  the 
foundation  of  empires.  In  a  word,  the  prehistoric 
age  was  over  ;  that  of  self-conscious  portraiture  was 
now  to  begin. 

A  few  years  ago  I  was  on  the  ancient  Hellespont 
and  my  fellow-travellers,  grou23ed  about  the  deck  of 
our  vessel,  were  trying  to  make  out  on  the  receding 
coast  of  Asia  the  sites  of  Troy  and  of  the  tumuli  which 
were  then  still  supposed  to  have  been  the  tombs  of 
Achilles,  Patrokles,  and  Hect(U',  but  which  are  now, 
thanks  to  the  able  researches  of  Dr.  Schliemann,  known 
to  belong  to  a  comparatively  modern  epoch.  The 
streams,  bearing  the  ever  memorable  names  of  Simois 
and  Scamander,  were  also  eagerly  pointed  out  by  the 
watchers,  recalling  the  words  of  Lamartine  : 


3l8  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

Le  nautonnier  voguant  siir  les  flots  du  Bosphore 

Des  yeux  cherchait  encore 
Le  palais  de  Priam  et  les  tours  d'llium. 

Great  indeed  is  the  privilege  of  genius,  immortalizing 
all  that  it  touches  ;  for  it  must  be  pointed  out  that 
Troy  was  never  an  important  town,  and  the  war  in 
which  it  disappeared  was  in  reality  but  one  of  the 
incessant  struggles  between  the  petty  princes  of  Greece 
and  Asia. 

When  I  visited  the  East,  scholars  were  not  at  all 
agreed  as  to  the  site  of  the  town  which  was  so  long 
besieged  by  the  Greeks  ;  and  certain  sceptical  spirits 
even  went  so  far  as  to  deny  that  there  ever  was  such  a 
person  as  Homer  at  all,  or  that  if  there  were,  he  wrote 
the  epic  poem  which  has  borne  his  name  so  long. 
Ti'adition,  however,  was  pretty  constant  in  pointing  to 
the  hill  of  Hissarlik  as  the  site  on  which  Troy  was 
built.  Strabo  was  quite  an  exception  in  relegating  the 
town  to  the  lower  end  of  the  bay,  where  the  miserable 
little  village  of  Akshi-koi  now  stands.  In  1788  a  new 
idea  was  started  ;  Lechevalier  in  his  account  of  his 
journey  in  Troas  claims  to  have  recognized  the  site  of 
Troy  at  Bunarbashi.  At  that  time  erudition  was  not 
very  profound,  and  Lechevalier's  site  was  accepted  ; 
indeed  it  was  long  maintained,  and  quite  recently  it  has 
been  defended  by  Perrot.  But  the  nineteenth  century  is 
more  exacting;  the  most  plausible  hypotheses  are  not 
enougli  without  facts  to  support  them,  and  excavations 
at  Akshi-koi  and  at  Bunarbashi  show  that  there  never 
was  a  town  on  either  of  these  sites. 

Excavations  on  the  hill  of  Hissarlik,  begun  by  Dr. 
Schliemann  in  1871,  and  carried  on  under  his  superin- 
tendence for  more  than  ten  years,  have,  on  the  contrary, 


THE    TOWNS   UPON    THE   HILL   OF  HISSARLIK.       319 

yielded  most  definite, satisfactory, and  conclusive  results. 
At  a  depth  of  fifty-two  feet  the  diggers  came  to  the 
virgin  soil,  a  very  hard  conchiferous  limestone.  The 
immense  masses  of  dehris  of  which  the  embankment 
is  made  up  date  from  different  epochs  ;  we  have  before 
us,  if  we  may  use  such  an  expression,  a  perpendicular 
Pentapolis  or  series  of  five  ancient  cities  one  above  the 
other.  One  town  was  destroyed  by  assault  and  by  fire  ; 
another  rapidly  rose  from  its  ruins,  built  with  stones 
taken  from  the  midst  of  those  very  remains.  The  study 
of  the  piled-up  I'ubbish  enables  us  to  build  up  again  a 
picture  of  the  remote  past  with  all  its  vicissitudes,  and 
Virchow  may  well  say  that  the  hill  of  Hissarlik  will 
for  ever  be  considered  one  of  the  best  authenticated 
witnesses  of  the  progress  of  civilization.^ 

The  first  layer  of  rubbish  rests  on  the  rock  itself, 
and  may  very  well  have  belonged  to  the  town  built  by 
Dardanus,  of  which  Tlepolemus  relates  the  destruction 
by  his  grandfather  Hercules.^  According  to  the  Homeric 
story  six  generations,  and  according  to  generally  ac- 
cepted modern  calculations  two  centui'ies,  separate 
Dardanus  from  Priam.  If  therefore  we  accept  1200  b.c. 
as  the  date  of  the  Trojan  war,  the  town  built  by  Dardanus 
would  date  from  1400  b.c,  and  we  should  possess  data, 
if  not  absolutely  certain,  at  least  approximately  so.^ 

'  Schliemann  :  "  Troy  and  its  Remains,"  translated  by  Philip  Smith,  London, 
Murray,  1875  ;  "  Ilios  Ville  et  Pays  des  Troyens,"  translated  by  Mme.  E, 
Egger,  Paris,  Hachette,  1885  ;  E.  Burnouf  :  Kcvue  des  Deux-Mondes,  January 
I,  1874  ;  Virchow  :   "  Alt  Trojanische  Graber  und  Schadel." 

^  Iliad,  canto  v.,  v.,  692. 

^  Egyptologists  tell  us  that  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  reign  of  Ramses  II.,  or 
about  1406  B.C.,  the  Hittites  placed  themselves  at  the  head  of  a  coalition  against 
the  Egyptian  Pharaoh.  With  these  Hittites,  or  Khittas,  whose  descendants 
still  dwell  in  the  north  of  Syria,  were  the  Mysians,  the  Lycians,  the  Dardanians, 
and  other  tribes. 


320  PRFJIISTORIC  PEOPLES!. 

There  remain  hut  a  few  relics  of  the  buildings  erected 
by  the  first  inhabitants  of  the  liill  of  Hissarlik,  which 
relics  consist  of  great  blocks  of  ii'regular  size,  with 
remains  of  bearing  walls  composed  of  small  stones 
cemented  together  with  clay  and  faced  with  a  glaze 
which  has  withstood  the  wear  and  tear  of  centuries. 

The  second  town,  which  would  appear  to  liave  been 
that  described  in  the  Iliad,  was  [)robably  built  by  a 
i-ace  foreign  to  those  who  erected  the  first.  The  hill, 
which  was  to  become  the  Acropolis  of  the  new  town, 
was  surrounded  by  the  new-comers  with  a  wall  several 
feet  thick,  of  which  the  foundations  consisted  of 
unhewn  stones  ;  whilst  the  upper  part  was  made  of 
artificially  baked  bricks,  the  baking  having  been  done 
after  they  were  put  in  place,  by  large  fires  lit  in  vacant 
places  left  at  regular  intervals ;  an  arrangement  recall- 
ing what  we  have  said  in  speaking  of  vitrified  foi-ts.' 
It  is  also  interesting  to  note  a  similar  mode  of  construc- 
tion at  Aztalan  in  Wisconsin  in  structures  which  prob- 
ably date  from  the  time  of  the  Mound  Builders.  The 
walls  at  Hissarlik  wei*e  protected  by  re-entering  angles 
and  projecting  forts.  The  interior  of  the  enceinte 
was  I'eached  by  three  doors,  and  it  is  still  easy  to 
make  out  the  I'uins  of  the  different  buildings.  A  room 
sixty-five  feet  long  by  thirty-two  wide  is  surrounded  by 
very  thick  walls,  and  towards  the  southeast  is  a  square 
vestibule,  opening  into  the  room  by  a  large  door.'^ 
These,  Dr.  Schliemann  thinks,  were  the  naos  and  pro- 

•"Amerique  Prehistorique "  (Masson),  translated  by  Nancy  Bell  (N. 
D'Anvers),  and  published  by  Murray,  London  ;  Putnam,  New  York. 

^  "  Troy  and  its  Remains,"  plate  ix.  See  also  excellent  essay  on  the  same 
subject  by  S.  Reinach,  which  appeared  in  the  Revue  Archcologiqtie  in  18S5. 
Later  investigations  by  Dr.  Schliemann  also  brought  to  light  a  remarkable 
resemblance  between  the  buildings  at  Hissarlik  and  those  of  Tiryns. 


THE    TOWNS    UPON    THE  HILL    OE  HISSARLIK.       32 1 

nao8  of  a  temple  dedicated  to  the  tutelary  gods  of  the 
town.  Quite  close  to  them  is  another  building  with 
similar  dispositions;  a  square  vestibule  giving  access 
to  a  large  I'oom,  which  in  its  turn  leads  to  a  smaller 
apai'tment.  These  two  buildings,  which  are  reached 
through  fi p7'opyl(Bum,  are  the  only  ones  of  which  the 
explorers  have  been  able  to  make  out  the  measure- 
ments with  any  exactitude. 

Other  ruins  are  evidently  remains  of  the  royal  resi- 
dence. The  homes  of  the  people  were  clustered  on 
the  sides  and  at  the  foot  of  the  hill.  After  the 
destruction  of  the  town  by  the  Greeks,  the  Acropolis 
formed  one  vast  mass  of  ruins,  from  which  bits  of  walls 
stood  out  here  and  there  as  mute  witnesses  of  the 
catastrophe.  The  thin  layer  of  black  earth  covering 
the  ruins  seems  to  point  to  the  speedy  rebuilding  of 
the  town.  The  houses  of  the  third  settlement  are 
very  irregularly  grouped,  and  consisted  mostly  of  one 
story  only,  containing  a  number  of  very  small  I'ooms. 
Some  of  the  walls  are  of  bricks  with  glazed  facings, 
others  of  very  small  stones  cemented  together  with 
clay.  In  one  house  of  rather  larger  size  than  the 
others  was  found  some  cement  made  of  cinders,  mixed 
with  fragments  of  charcoal,  broken  bones,  and  the 
remains  of  shells  and  pottery.  On  the  northwest  the 
new  colonists  erected  walls  in  place  of  those  which 
had  fallen  dow^n,  but  they  were  of  very  inferior 
masonry,  coarse  bricks  baked  on  the  spot,  in  the 
way  customary  among  the  Trojans,  having  formed  the 
material. 

The  destruction  of  the  third  town  was  more  com- 
plete than  that  of  Troy.  The  walls  of  the  houses  can 
still  be  made  out  rising  to  a  certain  height,  and  it  was 


322  PREB/STORIC  PEOPLES. 

upon  them  as  foundations  tliat  the  fourth  colony  set  up 
their  abodes.  These  dwellings  are  smaller  still,  with 
flat  roofs  formed  of  beams  on  which  was  laid  a  coating 
of  rushes  and  clay.  Every  generation  appears  to  have 
been  poorer  than  the  last,  alike  in  material  wealth  and 
in  fertility  of  resource. 

The  fifth  colony  spread  northwards  and  eastwards. 
Their  homes  were  built  very  much  in  the  same  style 
as  those  of  their  predecessors.  The  resemblance  does 
not  end  there,  and  Dr.  Schliemann  notes  that  among 
the  ruins  of  the  three  towns,  which  successively  rose 
from  the  site  of  Troy,  are  found  similar  strange- 
looking  idols,  hatchets  in  Jade,  porphyry,  diorite,  and 
bronze,  goblets  with  two  handles,  clumsy  stone  ham- 
mers, trachyte  grindstones,  and  fusaioles  or  perforated 
whorls  bearing  symbolic  signs  of  a  similar  form.  Evi- 
dently the  men  who  succeeded  each  other  after  the 
great  siege  of  Troy  on  the  now  celebrated  hill  of 
Hissarlik  belonged  to  the  same  race,  perhaps  even  to 
the  same  tribe.  There  are,  however,  certain  notable 
differences  which  must  not  be  passed  over.  The  later 
pottery  is  not  of  such  fine  clay  or  so  well  moulded  as 
the  earlier  specimens,  nor  are  the  stone  hammers,  which 
af)pear  to  have  been  the  chief  implements  used,  of  such 
good  workmanship.  The  piles  of  shells  left  to  ac- 
cumulate about  the  houses  of  the  fourth  and  fifth 
towns  can  only  be  compared  to  the  kitchen-middings 
so  often  i-eferred  to,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  those 
who  left  such  heaps  of  rubbish  about  their  dwellings 
could  not  have  been  so  civilized  as  were  the  celebrated 
Trojans. 

Beneath  the  I'uins  of  the  Greek  town,  which  strictly 
speaking  belongs  to  history,  Schliemann  found  a  c[uan- 


THE    TOWNS   UPON    THE  HILL    OF  HISSARLIK.       323 

tity  of  pottery  of  curious  shapes  and  very  different  to 
anything  he  had  previously  discovered.  He  ascribes 
them  to  a  Lydian  colony  which  dwelt  for  a  short  time 
upon  the  hill.  This  pottery  resembles  that  known  as 
proto-Etruscan,  of  whic^h  so  many  specimens  have 
been  found  in  Italy.  Probably  the  makei's  of  both 
wei'e  contemporaries. 

By  numerous  and  careful  measurements  Dr.  Schlie- 
mann  has  been  able  to  determine  exactly  the  thickness 
of  the  layers,  which  correspond  with  the  different 
periods  during  ^vhich  Hissarlik  was  inhabited.  The 
remains  of  the  Greek  and  Lydian  towns  extend  to  a 
depth  of  ^i\  feet  beneath  the  actual  level  of  the 
soil;  the  fourth  layer,  from  7|- to  15  feet;  the  thii'd, 
from  15  to  22i  feet;  Troy  itself,  from  22^  to  32  feet; 
and  lastly  Dardania,  from  32  to  52  feet.  The  last 
layer  carries  us  back  to  the  golden  age  of  Greek  ai't, 
where  all  douljt  is  finally  at  an  end.  The  bas-reliefs 
of  remarkable  workmanship  bear  witness  to  the  Ilium, 
founded  in  memory  of  Troy.  This  is  the  to\vn  visited 
by  Xerxes,  Alexander  the  Great,  and  Julian  the  Apos- 
tate.^ That  the  town  still  existed  about  the  middle  of 
the  fourth  century  is  proved  by  medals  taken  from 
the  ruins,  but  it  evidently  fell  into  decadence  soon 
after  that  time,  for  its  veiy  name  was  forgotten  by 
history,  and  it  was  reserved  for  our  own  time  to  resus- 
citate the  ancient  city  of  Priam  and  its  successors  from 
the  ruins  which  had  been  piled  up  by  the  destructive 
hand  of  man  and  by  the  lapse  of  time.  But  this  task 
has  been  nobly  achieved  by  the  enthusiasm,  scientific 

'  The  British  Museum  contains  a  manuscript  of  the  fourteenth  century,  in 
which  is  a  letter  from  Julian,  written  when  he  was  emperor,  between  361  and 
363  A.D. ,  and  relating  to  his  visit  to  Ilium. 


324  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

acumen,  and  we  may  perhaps  add  good-fortune  of  an 
ai'chaeologist  who  cherished  a  positive  passion  for 
everything  I'eh^ting  to  Homeric  times. 

The  number  of  objects  picked  up  at  different  stages 
of  tlie  excavations  was  very  considerable.  Dr.  Sclilie- 
mann  neglected  absolutely  nothing  that  appeared  to 
him  at  all  worthy  of  his  collection,  which  now  belongs 
to  the  Royal  Museum  of  Bei'lin  and  contains  some 
twenty  thousand  objects,  including  Aveapons  and  im- 
plements, some  of  stone,  others  of  bronze,  and  thou- 
sands of  vases  and  fusa'ioles,  gazing  upon  which  we 
see  rise  before  our  eyes  a  picture  of  a  civilization 
unknown  before  but  through  the  Iliad  and  a  few 
meagre  historical  allusions. 

Before  we  note  in  detail  the  most  remarkable  of  the 
objects  in  Dr.  Schliemann's  collection,  we  must  add 
that  recent  researches  have  also  brought  to  light  the 
remains  of  a  little  temple  dedicated  to  Pallas  Athene 
and  referred  to  in  history,  as  well  as  those  of  a  large 
Doric  temple  erected  by  Lysimachus,  and  of  a  mag- 
nificent theatre  capable  of  holding  six  thousand  spec- 
tators, and  which  probably  dates  from  the  end  of  the 
Roman  Republic.  The  human  bones  picked  up  among 
the  ruins  of  the  different  towns  may  be  attributed  to 
the  practice,  already  general,  of  cremation.  Yirchow 
has  examined  the  skull  of  a  woman  found  at  Ti'oy, 
which  is  of  a  pronounced  brachycephalic  type  (82.5). 
The  crania  from  the  third  town,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
dolichocephalic,  the  mean  cranial  capacity  being  sixty- 
seven.  If  we  could  reason  with  any  certainty  from 
cranial  capacity,  this  would  appear  to  point  to  a  differ- 
ent race,  but  it  would  not  do  to  come  to  any  positive 
conclusion  with  only  one  Trojan  ci'anium  to  jndge  l)y. 


THE    TOWNS    UPON    THE  HILL    OF  HISSARLIK. 


325 


But  to  return  to  Dr.  Schliemann's  fine  collection.  The 
pottery  from  the  first  town,  found  at  a  depth  of  from 
thirty-two  to  fifty-two  feet  (Fig.  89),  is  superior  alike  in 
color,  form,  and  construction,  to  the  keramic  ware  of  the 
following  periods.  The  potter's  wheel  was  unknown, 
or  at  least  very  rarely  used,^  and  pottery  was  hand' 
made  and  polished  with  bone  or  wood  polishers,  the 
marks  of  which  can  still  ])e  made  out.  The  forms  are 
varied  and  often  graceful,  many  of  them,  as  do  those 


Fir,.  89. — Vase  ending  in  the  snout  of  an  animal.  Found  on  the  hill  of  Hissarlik 
at  a  depth  of  45^  feet. 

found  in  the  mounds  of  Noi'th  America  imitating 
those  of  the  animals  among  which  the  potters  lived. 
The  usual  color  of  the  keramic  ware  is  black,  some- 
times decorated  with  white  lozenge-sha23ed  ornaments. 
Some  vases  have  also  been  found  colored  red,  yellow, 

'  The  potter's  wheel  was,  however,  in  use  at  a  very  remote  antiquity.  In 
China  its  invention  is  attributed  to  the  legendary  Emperor  Hwang-Ti,  who  is 
supposed  to  have  lived  about  2697  B.C.  The  wheel  was  also  known  from  the 
very  earliest  times  in  Egypt,  and  Homer  (Iliad,  c.  xviii.,  v.  599)  compares 
the  light  motions  of  the  dancers  represented  on  the  shield  of  AcImUcs  to  the 
rapid  rotation  of  tlie  potter's  wheel. 


326 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


and  brown,  and  even  decked  with  gai'lands  of  flowers 
and  fruit,  as  are  some  of  those  of  Santorin.  We  must 
also  mention  some  apodal  vases,  and  others  with  three 
feet,  used  for  funeral  purposes,  containing  human 
ashes  (Fig.  90).  The  terra-cotta  fusaioles,  found  in 
such  numbers  among  the  ruins  of  the  towns  that  rose 
successively  from  the  hill  of  Hissarlik,  are,  on  the  other 
hand,  rare  at  Dardania,  if  we  may  retain  that  name.' 

Excavations  have 
brouiJ-ht  to  lifrht 
more  than  six  liun- 
dred  celts  or  knives, 
generally  of  smaller 
size  than  those  found 
in  Denmai'k  or  France. 
Rock  of  many  kinds, 
including  serpentine, 
schist,  felsite,  jadeite, 
diorite,  and  nephiite, 
were  used;  and  saws 
of  flint  or  chalcedony, 
some  toothed  on  one 
side  only,  others  on 
both,  are  of  frequent 
occurrence.  They 
were  fixed  into 
handles  of  wood  or  horn,  and  kept  in  place  with  some 
agglutinative  substance,  such  as  pitch,  several  of 
them  still  retaining  traces  of  this  primitive  glue.  We 
must  also  mention  awls,  pins  of  bone  and  ivory,  and 

'  Rivett-Carnac  :  "  Memorandum  on  Clay  Discs  Called  Spindle  Whorls  and 
Votive  Seals  Found  at  Sankisa  "  (Behar),  Journal  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal, 
vol.  xlix.,  p.  I. 


Fig.    90. — Funeral    vase    containing   human 
ashes.    Found  at  a  deptli  of  50  feet. 


328 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


ossicles  or  knuckle  Ijones,  in  every  stage  of  manufac- 
ture, confirming  the  accounts  of  Greek  historians,  who 
tell  us  of  the  great  antiquity  of  the  game  played  with 
them.  The  Dardanians  used  wooden  and  bone  imple- 
ments and  weapons  almost  exclusively.  It  is  impossible 
to  sa}^  whether  they  were  acquainted  ^vith  the  use  of 
metals,  but  we  might  assert  that  they  were  if  we  could 


Fig.  92. — Earthenware  pitcher  found 
at  a  depth  of  19J  feet. 


Fin.    93. — Vase   found    beneath    the 
ruins  of  Troy. 


quite  certainly  attribute  to  them  a  certain  mould  of  mica 
schist,  found  at  a  depth  of  45|  feet,  which  had  been 
used  in  the  process  of  casting  spits  and  pins,  which  ai'e 
supposed  to  be  of  more  ancient  date  than  the  fibulae. 

The  most  valuable  objects  of  the  collection  come 
from  the  deposits  representing  the  town  of  Troy  ;  they 
are  all  twisted,  broken,  and  charred,  bearing  witness 


THE    TOWNS    UPON    THE   HTLL    OF  HISSARLIK.       329 


to  the  fierceness  of  the  flames  in  which  the  town  per- 
ished.    These  discoveries  reveal  to  us  the  daily   life 

of  the  peo2:>le  of  Troy. 
Judging  from  the  num- 
ber of  boars' tusks  found, 
hunting  must  have  been 
a  favorite  pastime  with 
them.  The  bones  of 
oxen,  sheep,  and  goats, 
^  of  smaller  species  than 
those  of  the  present  day, 
have  also  l:>een  found. 
Horses  and  dogs  were 
rai'e,  and  cats  unknowni. 
The  domestic  poultry  of 
the  present  day  was  also 
wanting,  no  remains  of 

Fir;.  94.— Terra-cotta  vase  found  with  the    \^x\diS,  haviug  bceU  f  OUud 
treasure  of  Priam.  ,  «  , 

except  a  tew  bones 
of  the  wild  swan  an<l  the  Avild  goose.  Fish  and 
mollusca,  as  proved  by 
the  immense  numbers 
of  bones  and  shells, 
formed  an  important 
part  of  the  diet  of  the 
Trojans.  They  also 
fed  largely  on  cereals, 
wdiich  thev  cultivated 
\\\\\\  success  ;  and 
wheat,  the  grains  of  F''=-  95-- 
\vhich  were  very  small, 
was  known  to  them.  The  preservation  of  these  vege- 
table relics  was  due  to  carbonization. 


Vase  found  beneatli  tlie  ruins  of 
Troy. 


330 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


The  pottery  discovered  is  of  an  infinite  variety,  and 
includes  jars  from  4f  feet  to  7f  feet  liigh  (Fig.  91),  of 
which  Schliemann  found  more  than  six  hundred,  nearly 
all  of  them  empty.  Their  size  need  not  sui-prise  us, 
for  Ciampini  ^  speaks  of  a  pottery  dolium  of  such  vast 
size  and  height  that  a  ladder  of  ten  or  twelve  rungs 
was  needed  to  reach  the  opening.^  With  these  jai-s 
were  found  some  large  goblets,  some  long-necked  ves- 
sels (Fig.  92),  some  amphorae,  and  vases  with  three 
feet  (Fig.  93).  Some  of  the  vases  had  lids  the  shape 
of  a  bell  (Fig.  94),  others  were  provided  with  flaps  or 


Fig.  96. — Earthenware  pig  found  at  a  depth  of  13  feet. 

horns  by  which  to  lift  them  (Fig.  95).  The  potter 
gave  free  vent  to  his  imagination,  but  the  decorations 
representing  fish-bones,  palm  branches,  zigzags,  circles, 
and  dots,  are  all  of  very  inferior  execution. 

Two    series    of    terra-cotta  objects  deserve  special 


'  "  De  Sacris  ^dificiis,"  ch.  ix.,  p.  12S. 

'  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  discovery  of  urns  closely  resembling  those  of 
Troy,  and  containing  human  remains,  in  Persia  (Sir  W.  Ouseley  :  "  Travels  in 
Persia  "),  and  at  Travancore,  in  the  south  of  Malabar,  where,  according  to  tra- 
dition, they  were  intended  to  receive  the  remains  of  young  virgins  sacrificed  in 
honor  of  the  gods. — "  Some  Vestiges  of  Girl  Sacrifices,"  Journ.  Anih.  Inst., 
May,  18S2. 


THE    TOWNS    UPON    THE  HILL    OF  HISSARLIK. 


M 


meutiou,  one  representing  animals,  generally  pigs  (Fig. 
96),  tliough  an  example  has  been  found  of  a  hippo- 
potamus ;  a  fact  of  very  great  interest,  as  this  animal 
does  not  live  at  the  present  day  anywhere  but  in  the 
heart  of  Africa.  We  know  from  this  terra-cotta  rep- 
resentation that  it  lived  in  Greece  jn  the  days  of  Troy. 
Plin}^  speaks  of  it  in  Upper  Egypt  in  his  day,  and 
according  to  Mariette  it  lived  thirty-five  centuries  be- 
fore the  Christian  era  in  the  delta  formed  by  the  mouth 


Fig.  97. — Vase  surmounted  by  an   owl's  head.    Found   beneath  the  ruins  of 

Troy. 


of  the  Nile.  The  second  series  of  objects  referred  to 
above  as  of  special  interest  are  vases  representing  the 
heads  of  owls  with  the  busts  of  women  (Fig.  97).  It 
is  easy  to  make  out  the  beak,  eyes,  and  ears  of  the 
bird,   and   the   breasts   and  navel   of  the  woman.     In 


33^  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

some  instances  the  face,  breasts,  and  sexual  organs  of  a 
woman  are  represented  by  a  series  of  dots  forming 
a  triangle  witli  tlie  point  downwards/  Other  dots 
represent  a  necklace,  and  very  similar  designs  are  to 
1)6  seen  on  the  Chaldean  cylinders.  Can  we  then  con- 
nect them  in  any  way  with  the  relics  of  Troy,  and  is 
it  possible  that  the  Trojans  and  Chaldeans  were  of 
common  origin  ?  However  that  may  be,  the  constant 
repetition  of  these  signs  proves  that  they  were  of  hieratic 
character.  Terra-cotta  ^vas  also  used  for  a  very  great 
nund)er  of  other  purposes,  as  was  the  case  eveiy- 
where  before  the  introduction  of  metals.  Some  deep 
and  some  flat  plates  made  of  very  common  clay  have 
])een  found,  together  with  buttons,  funnels,  bells,  chil- 
dren's toys,  and  seals  on  which,  some  authorities  think, 
Hittite  characters  can  be  made  out.  No  lamps,  oi'  any- 
thing that  could  serve  their  purpose,  have  been  found. 
The  Trojans  probably  used  torches  of  resinous  wood 
or  braziers,  when  they  required  artificial  light. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  give  a  list  of  the  objects 
of  every  variety  found  among  the  ruins  of  Troy,  Avith 
the  aid  of  which  Ave  can  form  a  A^ery  definite  idea  of 
the  private  life  of  its  people.  Some  fragments  of  an 
ivory  lyre,  and  some  pipes  pierced  Avith  three  holes  at 
equal  distances,  bear  witness  to  their  taste  for  music ;  a 
distaff,  still  full  of  charred  ^vool,  deserted  by  the  spin- 
ner Avhen  she  fled  before  the  conflagration,  tells  of 
domestic  industry  and  manual  dexterity,  while  marble 

'  The  vulva  was  sometimes  rejiresented  by  a  large  triangle.  The  same  pecu- 
liarity occurs  on  some  black  marble  statuettes,  found  in  the  tombs  of  the  Cyclades 
and  Attica.  Three  such  statuettes  from  the  island  of  Paros  are  in  the  Louvre, 
and  the  British  Museum  owns  a  rich  collection.  Dr.  Schliemann  also  mentions 
a  female  idol  made  in  lead  of  very  coarse  workmanship,  in  which  the  sexual 
organs   are  represented  by  a  double   cross. 


THE    TOWNS    UPON    THE  HILL    OF  HISSARLIK. 


333 


and  stone  plialli  prove  tliat  the  generative  forces  of 
nature  were   worshipped/ 

The  weapons  and  implements  found  included  haema- 
tite and  diorite  projectiles  used  in  slings,  stone  hatchets, 
and  hammei"s  })ierced  to  receive  handles,  flint  saws  and 
obsidian  knives.  Metallui'gy  began  to  play  an  im- 
portant part,  and  stone  with  its  minor  resisting  power 
was  quickly  superseded   by  bronze.     In  fact,  Virchow 


Fig.  g8. — Copper  vases  found  at  Troy. 


'  The  phallus  was,  as  we  have  already  stated,  the  symbol  of  generative  force. 
Its  worship  extended  throughout  India  and  Syria  ;  a  gigantic  phallus  adorned 
the  temple  of  the  mother  of  the  gods  at  Hierapolis,  and  it  was  carried  in 
triumph  in  processions  through  Egypt  and  Greece.  It  is  still  worshipped 
in  some  places  at  the  present  day.     Near  Niombo,  in  Africa,  there  is  a  temple 


334  PREHISTORIC   PEOPLES. 

was  certainly  justified  in  saying  tliat  the  whole  town 
belonged  to  the  Bronze  age.  Iron  was  still  unknown, 
at  least  so  far  no  trace  of  it  has  been  found,  either 
among  the  ruins  of  Troy  or  of  the  towns  which  suc- 
ceeded it.  Several  crucibles  and  moulds  of  mica, 
schist,  or  clay  have  Ijeen  found  with  one  of  granite  of 


Fig.   99. — A'ases  of  gold  and  electrum,  with  two  ingots,  found  beneath  the  ruins 

of  Troy. 

rectangular  shape  bearing  on  each  face  the  hollows  in- 
tended to  receive  the  fused  metal.     The  Schliemann 

containing  several  phallic  statues  ;  at  Stanley-Pool  the  fete  of  the  phallus  is 
celebrated  with  obscene  rites.  The  Kroomen  observe  similar  ceremonies  at  the 
time  of  the  new  moon,  and  in  Japan  on  certain  fete  days  young  girls  flourish  gigan- 
iicphalli  at  the  end  of  long  poles.  Thephalhis  is  also  often  represented  on  the 
monuments  of  Central  America — on  the  stones  of  the  temples  of  Izamal  and 
the  island  of  Zapatero,  for  instance.  Possibly  the  worship  of  the  productive 
and  generative  forces  of  nature  was  the  earliest  religion  of  many  primitive  peo- 
ples, but  all  that  is  said  on  the  subject  must  be  sifted  with  considerable  care. 


THE    TOWNS    UPON    THE   HILL    OF  HISSARLIK. 


335 


museuui  possesses  iiuiiieroiis  battle-axes  ^  of  bronze, 
some  double-bladed  daggers  with  crooked  ends,  lances 
similar  to  those  discovered  at  Koban/  and  thousands 
of  spits,  some  with  spherically  shaped  heads,  others 
of  spiral  form.  Some  of  these  spits  are  made  of  cop- 
per, as  are  some  large  nails  weighing  thirty    ounces. 


Fig.  ioo. — Gold  and  silver  objects  from  the  treasure  of  Priam. 

so  that  this  metal  was  evidently  still   often  used  in  a 
pure  state. 

At  the  foot  of  the  palace,  the  ruins  of  ^vhich  rise 
from  the  Acropolis  at  a  depth  of  27^  feet,  the   pick- 

*  Similar  hatchets  of  pure  copper  (Fig.  2)  have  been  found  in  Hungary,  and 
Butler  ("  Prehistoric  Wisconsin")  speaks  of  them  also  as  being  found  in  North 
America. 

^  The  tin  used  in  making  bronze  probably  came  from  Spain  or  Cornwall, 
perhaps  also  from  the  Caucasus,  where  small  quantities  of  it  are  still  found.  It 
was  doubtless  imported  by  the  Phcenicians,  the  great  navigators  of  antiquity. 
See  Rudolf  Virchow's  "  Das  Gruberfeld  von  Koban  im  Lande  der  Osseten," 
Berlin,  1S83. 


336 


PRE  HIS  TORIC  PE  OPLES. 


axes  of  tlie  explorers  brought  to  liglit  inetal  shields, 
vases  (Fig.  98),  and  dishes  mixed  together  in  the 
greatest  confusion,  often  soldered  together  by  the 
intense  heat  to  which  they  had  been  subjected.     They 


Fig.  ioi. — (iold  ear-rings,  head-dress,   and  necklace  of  golden  Leads  from  tlie 
treasure  of  Priam. 

had  probably  been  enclosed  in  a  ^vooden   chest  that 
was  destroyed    in  the   conflagration.^     We   are  aston- 

'  This  idea  gains  probability  from  the  fact  that  the  remains  of  a  key  were 
picked  up  near  the  treasure,  which  we  have  reason  to  suppose  belonged  to  Priam. 


THE    TOWNS    UPON    THE   HILL    OF  HlSSARLIK.        337 

islied  at  tbe  wealth  revealed  to  us.  Cups,  goblets, 
and  bottles  of  gold  (Figs.  99  and  100)  lay  side  by 
side  with  golden  necklaces  ^  and  ear-rings  of  elec- 
trum.^  The  ornaments  that  had  belonged  to  women 
are  especially  curious.  At  one  place  alone  several  dia- 
dems (Fig.  101)  were  picked  up,  with  fifty-six  ear-rings, 
six  bracelets,  and  nine  thousand  minor  objects,  such  as 
rings,  buckles,  buttons,  dice,  pins,  beads,  and  ornaments 
of  a  great  vai'iety.^  All  these  treasures  were  piled  up 
in  a  great  silver  vase,  into  which  they  had  doubtless 
been  hastily  thrown  in  the  confusion  of  a  precipitate 
flight.  They  are  all  of  characteristic  forms,  quite  un- 
like anything  in  Assyrian  or  Egyptian  art.  Were  they 
made  in  Troy  itself  ?  Dr.  Schliemann  doubts  it ;  he 
thinks  that  the  makers  of  such  clumsy  pottery  are  not 
likely  to  have  been  able  to  produce  Jewelry  of  such 
delicate  and  remarkable  workmanship.  I  should  not 
like  to  be  so  positive,  for  even  amongst  the  most 
advanced  peoples  we  find  very  common  objects  mixed 
with  others  showing  artistic  skill.  Why  should  it  not 
have  been  the  same  at  Troy  ?  I  think  that  in  future 
Trojan  art  must  take  its  j^lace  in  the  history  of  the 
progress  of  humanity.  The  nineteenth  century  has 
brought  that  art  to  light,  and  by  a  strange  caprice  of 
chance  the  treasures  of  Priam  adorn  the  museum  of 
Berlin,  and  we  have  seen  the  diadem  of  fair  Helen 
exhibited  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum  of  London." 

'  The  gold  may  have  come  from  the  mines  of  Astyra,  not  far  from  Troy. 

^  Electrum  was  the  ancient  name  for  amber,  but  was  also  given  to  an  alloy  of 
gold  and  silver,  the  yellow  color  of  which  resembles  that  of  amber. 

^  Dr.  Schliemann  gives  a  very  careful  description  of  all  these  objects.  See 
"  Troy  and  its  Remains,"  Figs.  174  to  497,  pp.  260  to  353. 

■*  The  j/3^5e/zror  or  diadem  of  the  wife  of  Menelaus  is  a  narrow  fillet  from 
which  hang  several  little  chains  formed  of  links  alternating  with  small  leaves, 


338  rKEHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

Treasures  uearly  as  valuable  as  those  we  Lave  been 
describing  were  found  in  earthenware  vases  in  several 
other  parts  of  the  ruins.  Unfortunately,  many  of  the 
objects  found  were  stolen  and  melted  down  by  the 
workmen,  whilst  others  were  taken  to  the  Imperial 
Palace  at  Constantinople,  whence  they  are  doomed  to 
be  dispersed.  In  1873,  however.  Dr.  Schliemann  was 
fortunate  enough  to  hit  upon  a  deposit  containing 
twenty  gold  ear-rings,  and  four  golden  ornaments 
which  had  formed  part  of  a  necklace.^  Similar  orna- 
ments were  found  at  Mykenae,  near  Bologna,  in  the 
Caucasus,  in  the  Lake  dwellings,  and,  stranger  still,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Rio  Suarez  in  Colombia.^ 

I  will  not  add  more  to  what  I  have  already  said 
about  the  towns  which  succeeded  each  other  on  the 
ruins  of  Troy,  and  of  which  the  successive  stages  of 
rubbish  on  the  hill  of  Hissarlik  are  the  only  witnesses 
left.  The  flames  spared  none  who  settled  on  that 
doomed  spot,  and  new  arrivals  disappeared  as  rapidly 
as  they  came.  The  Ilium  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
alone  enjoyed  any  prosperity,  but  it  too  was  in  its  turn 
swej^t  away  ;  and  at  the  present  day  a  few  wandering 
shepherds  and  their  flocks  are  the  sole  dwellers  upon 
the  hill  immortalized  by  Homer. 

Before  concluding  this  chapter  I  must   refer  once 

and  ending  in  rather  larger  leaves,  these  leaves  all  representing  the  woman  with 
the  owl's  head,  so  characteristic  of  Trojan  art.  The  golden  objects  are  all  sol- 
dered with  the  same  metals,  which  modern  goldsmiths  seem  unable  to  do.  At 
Tiryns,  which  we  believe  to  have  been  contemporary  with  Troy,  the  art  of 
soldering  was  unknown,  and  ornaments  were  merely  screwed  together. 

'  Bastian,  Zeitschrift  der  Berliner  Gesellschaft  fiir  Erdkiinde,  vol.  xiii. , 
plates  I  and  2. 

^  If  we  accept  1200  b.c  as  the  date  of  the  Trojan  war  and  the  eighth  century 
as  that  of  the  foundation  of  Ilium,  the  towns  that  succeeded  each  other  on  the 
hill  of  Hissarlik  only  lasted  four  centuries  altogether. 


THE    TOWNS    UPON    THE   HILL    OF  HISSARLIK.        339 

more  to  a,  fact  of  considerable  interest.  In  that  part 
of  the  deposits  of  Hissarlik  which  represents  Troy, 
Dr.  Schliemann  picked  up  tlie  perforated  whorls  to 
which  the  name  of  fusaioles  has  been  given  (Fig.  102), 
and.  of  which  we  spoke  in  our  account  of  the  Lake 
Dwellings  of  Switzerland.  These  fusaioles  are  gener- 
ally of  common  clay  mixed 
with  bits  of  mica,  quartz,  or 
silica,  though  some  few  have 
been  found  at  MykenaB  and 
Tiryns  of  steatite.  The  clay 
whorls  before  being  baked 
were  plunged  into  a  bath  of 
a  very  fine  clay  of  gray,  yel-     ^''"-  io2.-Terra-cotta  fusaioles. 

low,  or  black  color,  and  then  carefully  polished.  They 
nearly  all  bear  oi'uaments  of  very  primitive  execution, 
such,  as  stars,  the  sun,  flowers,  or  animals,  and  more 
rarely  representations  of  the  human  figure. 

We  ourselves  think  these  fusaioles  are  amulets  which 
were  taken  to  Troy  by  tlie  Trojans,  and.  piously  pre- 
served by  their  successors.  One  important  fact  tends 
to  confirm  this  hypothesis.  A  great  number  of  them 
bear  the  sign  of  the  sioastiha^  (Fig.  103),  the  cross 
with  the  four  arms,  the  sacred  symbol  of  the  great 
Aryan  race  so  long  supposed  to  be  the  source  of  all  the 
Indo-European  i-aces.  The  swastika  is  engraved,  not 
only  on  the  fusaioles,  but  also  on  the  diadems  of  the 
daughters  of  Priam,  on  the  idols  the  Trojans  wor- 
shipped, and  on  numerous  objects  from  the  Lydian 
and.  Greco-Roman  towns.  We  meet  with  the  double 
cross  among  the  prehistoric  races  of  the  basin  of  the 

'  In  the  Vedas  the  word  swasti  is  often  used  in  the  sense  of  happiness  or 
good-fortune. 


340 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


Dauul>e,  ^vlK)  colouized  the  shores  of  the  Troad  and 
the  north  uf  Italy,  and  it  was  introduced  witli  tlie 
products  of  that  antique  civilization  on  the  one  side 
to  the  Greeks,  the  Etruscans,  the  Latins,  the  Gauls,  the 
Germanic  I'aces,  the  Scandinavians,  and  the  Bretons ; 
and  on  the  other  to  the  people  of  Asia  Minor,  Persia, 
India,  China,  and  Japan/ 

This  sign  of  the  swantilca  meets  us  at  every  turn; 
we  find  it  on  many  ancient  Persian  books,  on  the  tem- 
ples of  India,  on  Celtic  funeral  stones,  and  on  a  Hittite 
cylinder.  It  is  seen  on  vases  of  elegant  form  from 
Athens  and  Melos ;  on  othei-s  from  Ceres,  Chiusi,  and 
Cunia3,  as  well  as  on  the  clumsy  pottery  recently  dis- 
covered at  Konigswald 
on  the  Oder  and  on  the 
borders  of  Hungary ;  on 
bronze  objects  from  the 
Caucasus,  and  the  cele- 
brated Albauo  urn  ;  on  a 
medal  from  Gaza  in  Pales- 
tine and  on  an  Iberian 
medal  from  Asido.  We 
see  it  on  the  Gallo-Roman 
rings  of  the  Museum  of 
Namur,  and  on  the  plaques  of  the  belt,  dating  from  the 
same  epoch,  which  form  jjai't  of  the  magnificent  collec- 
tion of  M.  Moreau,  Schliemann  tells  us  of  it  at  Mykense 
and  at  Tiryns,  Chantre  found  it  on  the  necropoles  of 
the  Caucasus.  It  is  ens^raved  on  the  walls  of  the 
catacombs  of  Rome,  on  the  chair  of  Saint  Ambrose  at 
Milan,  on  the  crumbling  walls  of  Portici,  and  on  the 


Fig.  103. — Cover  of  a  vase  with 
the  symbol  of  the  swastika.  Found 
at  Troy. 


'  Comte  Goblet  d'Auriella,  Bui.  Acad.  Royale  de  Belgique^  if 


THE    TOWNS    UPON    THE  HILL    OF  HISSARLIK.       34 1 


mofet  ancieut  monuments  of  Ireland,  where  it  is  often 
associated  with  inscriptions  in  the  ogham  character.^ 

The  swastika  occurs  twice  on  a  large  piece  of  copper 
found  at  Corneto,  which  now  belongs  to  tlie  Museum 
of  Berlin.  Cartailhac  noticed  it  in  the  citania  of  Por- 
tugal, some  of  which  date  from  Neolithic  tinies.~  The 
Euf^lish  in  the  Ashantee  war  noticed  it  on  the  bi'onzes 
they  took  at  Coomassie  on  the  coast  of  Guinea,  and  it 
has  also  been  found  on  objects  discovered  in  the  Eng- 
lish county  of  Norfolk. 

Moreover,  if  we  cross  the  Atlantic  we  find  the  same 
symbol  engraved  on  the  tem[)les  of  Yucatan,  the  origin 
of  which  is  unknown,  on  a  hatchet  found  at  Pember- 
ton,  in  New  Jersey  (Fig.  104),  on  vases  from  a  Peruvian 
sepulchre  near  Lima,  and  on  vessels 
from  the  lyuehlos  of  New  Mexico. 
Dr.  Hamy,  in  his  "  American  De- 
cades," represents  it  on  a  flattened 
goui'd  belonging  to  the  Woljji  Indi- 
ans, and  the  sacred  tambours  of  the 
Esquimaux  of  the  present  day  bear 
the  same  symbol,  which  was  prob- 
ably transmitted  to  them  })y  their 
ancestors.  The  universality  of  this 
one  sign  amongst  the  Hindoos, 
Persians,  Hittites,  Pelasgians,  Celts, 
and  Germanic  races,  the  Chinese, 
Japanese,  and  the  primitive  inhabi- 
tants of  America  is  infinitely  strange, 
and  seems  to  prove  the  identity  of 
races  so  different  to  each  other,  alike  in   appearance 

'  G.  Atkinson,  Congres  Prehistoriqiie,   Lisbon,  1880,  p.  466. 

'^  "Ages  Prehistoriques  en  Espagne  et  Portugal,"  figs   410,  411,  412,  p.  286. 


Fig.  104. — Stone  hammer 
frcjm  New  Jersey  l)ear- 
ing  an  undeciphered  in- 
scription. 


342  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

and  in  customs,  and  is  a  very  important  factor  in  deal- 
ing with  the  great  problem  of  the  origin  of  the  human 
species. 

We  have  dwelt  much  on  the  discoveries  of  Dr. 
Schliemann,  but  we  must  add  that,  like  all  great  dis- 
coveries, they  have  been  very  vigorously  contested.' 
Boetticher,  for  instance,  considers  the  ruins  of  Hissar- 
lik  to  be  nothing  more  than  the  remains  of  a  necropolis 
where  cremation  was  practised  according  to  the  Assyrio- 
Babylonian  custom,'  A  distinguished  and  veiy  honest 
savant,  S.  Reinach,  constituted  himself  the  champion 
of  this  theory  at  the  meeting  of  the  Congress  in  Paris 
in  1889.  Schliemann  replied  very  forcibly,  and  the 
meeting  appeared  to  be  \vith  him  in  the  matter,  as  were 
also  a  number  of  men  of  science  who  visited  Hissarlik 
in  1888,  and  we  think  that  in  the  end  history  will 
adopt  the  opinion  of  the  great  Danish  anti(piarian. 

We  have  now  passed  in  review  the  chief  of  the  works 
left  behind  him  by  man  from  the  earliest  days  of  his 
existence  to  the  dawn  of  historic  times.  We  must  still 
show  prehistoric,  man  in  the  pi'esence  of  death,  the 
universal  destroyei",  and  learn  from  the  evidence  of  the 
tombs  of  the  remote  past  how  our  ancestors  met  the 
common  doom. 

'  Aussland,  1883.  Zeitschrift  fiir  Mnseologif  luui  Antcqitatcn  Kuiide,  1884. 
Musoeon,  1888  and  1889. 

^  Virchow,  who  visited  the  remains  at  Hissarlik,  treats  this  iilea  ».■?,  furchtharen 
Unsinn  (ridiculous  nonsense). 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

TOMBS. 

The  true  history  of  man  will  be  found  in  liis  tombs, 
says  Thucydicles  ;  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  sepulchre 
has  ever  occupietl  much  of  the  thoughts  of  man,  the 
result  of  a  religious  sentiment,  a  conviction  that  all 
does  not  end  with  the  life  which  so  quickly  passes  by. 

From  the  very  earliest  times  we  meet  with  tokens 
of  the  hopes  and  fears  connected  with  a  future  exist- 
ence ;  but,  as  I  have  already  stated,  the  human  bones 
that  can  with  certainty  be  said  to  date  fi-om  Palaeolithic 
times  are  very  rai'e.  We  know  but  very  few  facts  jus- 
tifying us  in  asserting  that  the  contemporary  of  the 
mammoth  and  of  the  cave  bear  had  already  learnt  to 
respect  the  remains  of  what  had  once  been  a  man  like 
himself.  One  of  these  few  facts  deserves,  I  think,  to 
be  noticed  with  some  detail. 

In  1886,  excavations  in  the  cave  of  Spy'  (Namur), 

'  The  true  name  of  this  cave  is  the  Betche  mix  Roches.  A  very  excellent  essay 
on  the  subject  was  read  by  the  explorers,  MM.  de  Puydt  and  Lohest,  in 
August,  1886,  to  the  Historic  Society  of  Belgium,  and  "  Les  Fouilles  de  Spy,'' 
by  Dr.  Collignon,  published  in  the  Kcv:ie  cV Anthropologie,  1887,  may  also  be 
consulted.  Excavations  were  also  carried  on  in  the  same  cave  in  1879  by  M. 
Bucquoy  {Bui.  Soc.  Anth.  de  Belgique,  1887).  He  distinguished  five  ossiferous 
levels  and  picked  up  some  flints  of  the  Mousterien  type,  and  even  some  Chelleen 
hatchets,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  coups  de poing. — Fraipont  and  Lohest; 
"  Recherches  sur  les  Ossements  Humains  Decouvertes  dans  les  Depots  Quater- 
naires  d'un   grotte  a  Spy." 

343 


344  PRETTTSTORTC  PEOPLES. 

or  rather  in  a  terrace  some  tliirty-six  feet  long  by  nine- 
teen and  a  Lalf  wide  giving  access  to  it,  brought  to 
liirht  two  Imman  skeletons.  One  was  that  of  an  indi- 
vidiial  already  advanced  in  life,  probably  of  the  femi- 
nine sex,  the  other  of  a  man  in  the  prime  of  life. 
These  skeletons  were  imbedded  in  a  very  hard  breccia 
containing  also  fi-agments  of  ivoiy  and  numerous  flints 
of  very  small  size.  Some  of  them  had  very  fine 
scratches  on  both  sides.  From  what  I  could  learn  on 
the  spot,  the  skeletons  when  found  were  in  a  recum- 
bent position.  The  bones,  few  of  which  were  missing, 
were  still  in  their  natural  position,  and  near  to  one  of 
them  were  picked  up  several  arrow-  or  lance-heads,  one 
of  which,  of  phtanite,  some  two  and  a  half  inches  long, 
was  of  the  purest  Moustcrien  type.  The  bones  were 
those  of  short,  squat  individuals,  and  the  skulls  were 
of  the  type  of  the  Canstadt  race,  the  most  ancient  of 
which  anything  is  known  ;  the  thickness  of  the  crania 
was  about  one  third  of  an  inch.  The  forehead  is  low 
and  retreating,  the  eyebrows  are  prominent,  and  the 
lower  jaws  strong  and  well  developed. 

At  the  same  level  and  in  that  immediately  above  it 
were  picked  up  the  remains  of  the  manmioth,  the 
Wiinoceros  ticliorhinus,  the  cave  bear,  and  the  large 
cave  hyena,  the  reindeer,  and  numerous  other  mammals 
belonging  to  the  Quaternary  fauna.  Everything  points 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  man  and  woman  whose 
remains  have  so  opportunely  come  to  light  were  con- 
temporary with  these  animals,  and  that  their  bodies 
were  placed  after  death  in  the  cave  in  which  they  were 
found. 

Belgium  has  furnished  numerous  examples  of  sepul- 
chral caves,  of  a  date,  ho^vever,  less  ancient  than  that 


TOMBS.  345 

we  have  been  considering.  Recent  excavations  in  the 
Chauvaux  Cave  revealed  two  skeletons  leaning  against 
the  walls  in  a  crouching  position,  the  legs  tucked  under 
the  body.  In  the  Gendron  Cave  M.  Dupont  discov- 
ered seventeen  skeletons  lying  in  a  low,  narrow  passage, 
stretched  out  at  full  length  with  the  feet  toward  the 
wall,  and  arranged  in  twos  and  threes,  one  above  the 
other.  In  the  middle  of  all  these  dead  was  the  skele- 
ton of  one  man  placed  upright,  as  if  to  watch  over  the 
other  bodies. 

The  Duruthy  Cave  at  Sordes  opens  neai*  the  point 
of  junction  of  the  waters  of  the  Pau  and  Oloron, 
whence  their  united  waters  flow  into  the  Adour.  At 
the  northern  extremity  of  this  cave  is  a  natural  niche 
in  which  lay  more  tlian  thirty  skelet  )ns,  some  of  men, 
some  of  women,  and  some  of  children,  mixed  together 
in  the  greatest  confusion.  Worked  flints,  bone  stilet- 
tos, and  ornaments  lay  around,  all  of  the  forms  charac- 
teristic of  Palaeolithic  times. 

It  would  seem  that  Me  have  here  evidence  of  the 
practice  of  a  funeral  rite,  which  consisted  in  first 
stripping  the  bodies  of  flesh,  and  then  laying  the  bones 
in  caves,  where  they  were  often  left  unnoticed  by  the 
living  occupants  of  the  same  refuge.' 

The  caves  of  Baousse-Rousse,  near  Mentone,  give 
fresh  proof  of  the  extension  of  this  i4te,  if  we  may  so 
call  it.  The  skeletons  lay  upon  a  bed  of  powdered 
iron  ore,  in  some  cases  as  much  as  two  fifths  of  an  inch 

'  We  borrow  these  details  from  a  valuable  work  by  Cartailhac  {Mat., 
1886,  p.  441  ;  Rev.  d'A)iih.,  1886,  p.  448).  The  conclusions  of  our  learned 
colleague  are  that  we  really  know  nothing  of  the  funeral  rites  of  the  men  of 
Chelles  and  Moustier,  and  that  it  is  to  the  Solutreen  period  that  we  must  assign 
the  first  really  authenticated  tombs.  Cartailhac's  admirable  book,  "  La  France 
Prehistorique,"  p.  302,  should  also  be  consulted. 


34^  PKKIIISTOKIC  PEOPLES. 

thick,  and  this  accumulation  could  not  have  taken  place 
if  the  skeleton  had  not  been  deprived  of  its  flesh 
before  inhumation.  The  flesh  must  have  been  taken 
off  by  some  rapid  j^rocess,  for  the  bones  remain,  as  a 
general  rule,  in  their  natural  positions,  united  by  their 
tendons  and  ligaments.  In  Italy,  says  Issel,  the  cave 
men  Iniried  their  dead  in  the  caves  they  lived  in,  a 
thin  layer  of  earth  alone  separating  them  from  the 
living;  the  bodies,  adds  Pigorini,'  genei'ally  lay  on  the 
left  side,  the  head  rested  on  the  left  hand,  and  the 
knees  were  bent.  Beside  the  skeleton  was  placed  a 
vase  containing  red  chalk,  to  ])e  used  for  painting  the 
body  in  tlie  new  Avorld  it  was  supposed  to  be  about  to 
enter. 

We  could  rpiote  similar  discoveries  in  Sicily,  Bel- 
gium, and  the  southern  Pyrenees.  Beneath  the  tumu- 
lus of  Plouhennec,  in  Brittany,  bones  were  strewn 
about  ill  the  greatest  disorder.  Some  archaeologists 
are  of  opinion  that  the  openings  in  certain  dolmens 
were  used  for  throwini*:  in  the  bones  of  the  dead  who 
successively  went  to  join  their  ancestors.  In  many  of 
the  Long  Barrows  of  England  the  bones  appear  to 
have  been  flung  in  pell-mell ;  the  space  was  too  nai'row 
to  hold  the  complete  body,  so  that  before  inhumation 
the  flesh  must  have  been  separated  from  the  bones. 
In  no  other  way  can  ^\•e  explain  the  confusion  in 
which  the  human  remains  lay  when  they  were  discov- 
ered."'  Pigoriui  thinks  this  is  a  proof  that  primitive 
races  worshipped  their  dead,  and  held  their  bodies  in 
veneration.^  Perhaps  they  even  carried  them  about  in 
their  migrations.     However  that  may  be,  the  custom 

'  "  Ipui  Antichi  Sepolcri  dell  Italia." 
'  Archtzological  yournal,  vol.  xxii. 
*  Mat/riaux,   1885,  p.  299. 


TOMBS.  347 

of  separating  tlie  flesh  from  the  bones  was  continued 
until  cremation  became  general.  This  would  explain 
the  huge  ossuaries  found  in  regions  so  widely  sepa- 
rated. 

Although,  however,  the  mode  of  sepulture  we  have 
just  described  was  practised  for  a  long  time  in  certain 
places,  we  cannot  admit  it  to  have  been  general.  In 
certain  megalithic  tombs  we  find  dispositions  similar 
to  those  described  in  speaking  of  the  Gendi'ou  Cave. 
Excavations  ])eneath  tlie  Port-Blanc  dolmen  (Morbi- 
han  )  brouglit  to  light  a  rough  pavement  on  which  lay 
numbers  of  skeletons,  closely  jiacked  one  against 
another,  which  skeletons  were  probal)ly  those  of  men 
who  had  been  held  in  honor,  and  to  commemoi'ate 
whom  the  dolmen  was  set  up.  Separated  from  them 
by  a  layer  of  stones  and  earth  rested  another  series  of 
skeletons,  not  so  closely  packed  as  the  first.  The 
new-comers  had  respected  their  predecessors,  and  no 
one  had  violated  the  sanctuary  of  the  dead.  Similar 
facts  were  noted  at  Grand  Compans,  near  Luzarches,^ 
and  it  is  evident  that  successive  inhumations  beneath 
dolmens  often  took  place,  and  instances  might,  if 
necessary,  be  multiplied. 

Another  singular  funeral  rite  was  practised  in 
remote  antiquity.  Many  of  the  bones  found  in  the 
various  caves  of  Mentone  were  colored  with  red  hema- 
tite.^ As  this  was  only  the  case  Avith  the  bones  of 
adults,  those  of  children  retaining  their  natural  white- 
ness, it  evidently  had  some  special  significance.  In 
1880,  the  opening  of  a  cave  of  the  Stone  age  in  the 
district  of  Anagni,  a  short  distance  from  Home,  brought 

*  This  dolmen    was    carefully  excavated  by    MM.    Hahn  and    Millescamps, 
Bui.  Soc.  Anth.,  1883,  p.  312. 

'  Riviere  :   Congrls  des  Sciences  G/ograpkicptes,  Paris,  1878. 


34^  PREHlSTOkIC  PEOPLES. 

to  liglit  the  facial  portion  of  a  liiiman  cranium,  colored 
bright  red  with  cinnabar.  Nor  are  these  by  any 
means  exceptional  cases,  for  similar  coloration  was 
noticed  on  ]x)nes  ])icked  np  at  Finalmarina  and  several 
other  places  in  Liguria  and  Sicily.  The  custom  liad 
therefore  become  general  in  the  Neolithic  pei'iod  in 
the  whole  of  the  Italian  peninsula.^  We  also  meet 
witli  it  in  other  countries  ;  at  the  Prehistoric  Congress, 
when  in  session  at  Lisbon,  Dolgado  added  to  what 
was  said  about  the  discoveries  in  Italy  the  fact  tliat 
the  cavemen  of  Fui-ninha  pi'actised  a  similar  rite.  In 
the  hurganeH  of  the  depai'tment  of  Kiew  crania  wei'e 
found  colored  with  a  mineral  substance,  fragments  of 
which  were  strewn  about  near  the  skeletons.  The 
most  ancient  of  the  IcurganeH  ap[)ear  to  date  from  the 
Stone  age,  for  in  them  were  found  implements  made 
of  flint  and  reindeerdiorn,  mixed  with  the  bones  of 
rodents'  long  since  extinct  in  that  district.  A  similar 
practice  is  met  with  in  the  tombs  of  Poland,  many 
bones  being  covered  with  a  coating  oi  red  color,  in 
some  instiuices  one  fifth  of  an  inch  thick.  Excavations 
in  the  Kitor  valley  (province  of  Ii-kutsk,  Siberia)  have 
brought  to  light  several  tombs  which  appear  to  date 
from  the  same  period  as  the  Icui'ganes  of  Kiew.  The 
dead  were  buried  with  the  weapons  and  ornaments 
they  woidd  like  to  use  in  the  new  life  which  had 
begun  for  them.  The  tomb  was  then  filled  in  with 
sand,  with  which  care  was  taken  to  mix  plenty  of  red 
ochi'e.  It  is  diflficult  not  to  conclude  that  this  was  a 
relic  of  a  rite  fallen  into  desuetude. 


'  AiH   della    R.    Acad,    dei   Lincei,    1S79-1880.       Pigorini  :    Bui.   de  Pal. 
Italiaiia,  1880,  p.  33. 

'  Soc.  Anth.  de  Munich,  1886. 


TOMBS.  349 

At  the  present  day  certain  tribes  of  North  America 
expose  their  dead  on  the  tops  of  trees,  and  before 
burying  the  bones,  when  stripped  of  their  flesli,  cover 
them  with  a  coating  of  a  bright  red  color.  In  the 
island  of  Espiritu  Santo  many  human  bones  have  also 
been  picked  up  painted  with  an  oxide  of  argillaceous 
iron.  These  customs,  strange  as  they  may  appear, 
were  evidently  practised  in  honor  of  ancestors ;  ata- 
vism is  as  clearly  shown  in  customs  and  traditions  as 
in  physical  structure. 

At  Solutre  is  a  sepulchre  formed  of  unliewn  slabs 
of  stone.  The  l)ody  of  the  dead  rested  on  a  thick  bed 
of  the  broken  and  crushed  bones  of  horses.  The 
remains  of  i-eindeer  were  mixed  with  the  human  bones. 
Were  these  too  relics  of  funeral  rites,  and  were  the 
animal  bones  those  of  the  horses  and  reindeer  that  had 
belonged  to  their  hunter  I  It  is  impossible  to  say. 
Solutre,  situated  as  it  was  on  an  admiral de  site  on  a 
hill  overlooking  the  valley  of  the  Seine,  protected 
from  the  noi'th  winds  and  close  to  a  plentiful  stream, 
has  also  l)een  a  favorite  resort  of  man.  In  the  tombs 
all  ages  are  mixed  together,  and  if  some  do  indeed 
date  from  Neolithic  times,  others  are  Koman,  Burgun- 
dian,  Merovingian.  There  may  be  among  them  a 
certain  number  dating  from  the  Reindeer  period  ;  that 
is  about  all  we  can  assert  with  any  certainty  in  the 
present  state  of  <^ur  knowledge.  The  Abbe  Ducrost, 
however,  in  an  important  essay'  asserts  that  he  has 
found  incontrovertible  pi'oofs  of  the  interment  of  Solu- 
treens  on  the  hearths  of  their  homes  in  Palaeolithic 
times.  If  this  be  so,  the  custom  is  one  of  frequent 
occurrence,  and  has  been  continued  for  centuries ;  for 

'  Soc.  A  nth.  de  Lyon,  1889. 


350  PkEHlSTORIC  PEOPLES. 

De  Colanges,  in  his  fine  work  on  ancient  cities, 
shows  that  at  Kome  the  earliest  tombs  were  on  the 
hearth  itself  of  the  dwelling.  De  Mortillet,  on  the 
other  hand,  dwells  very  earnestly  on  the  mode  of 
inhumation  at  Solutre,  and  sees  in  the  juxtaposition  of 
human  remains  and  the  debris  of  hearths  but  the  result 
of  displacement,  and  of  the  regular  turning  upside 
down  of  which  the  hill  of  Solutre  has  been  the  scene. 
To  this  Reinach  replied,  to  the  effect  that,  whereas  a 
few  years  ago  De  Mortillet's  authority  led  many 
archaeologists  to  suppose  that  the  men  of  the  Reindeer 
period  did  not  bury  their  dead,  facts,  ever  more  im- 
portant than  theories,  have  now  proved  beyond  a 
doubt  that  this  very  decided  opinion  is  a  mistake. 
Not  only  did  the  men  of  remote  antiquity  bury  tlieir 
dead;  they  laid  them,  as  at  Solutre,  on  the  hearths 
near  which  they  had  lived.' 

The  dead  were  often  buried  seated  or  bent  forward, 
and  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  same  custom  beneath 
the  mounds  of  America  and  the  tumuli  of  Europe.  It 
is  touching  to  see  how  in  death  men  wished  to  recall 
their  life  on  earth ;  the  cradle  was,  so  to  speak,  repro- 
duced in  the  tomb,  and  man  lay  on  the  bosom  of 
earth,  the  common  mother  of  humanity,  like  the  child 
on  the  bosom  of  his  own  mother.  Perhaps,  too,  the 
seated  position  was  meant  to  indicate  that  man,  who 
had  never  known  rest  during  his  hard  struggle  for 
existence,  had  found  it  at  last  in  his  new  life.  The 
men  of  the  rough  and  barbarous  times  of  the  remote 
past  Avere  luiable  to  conceive  the  idea  of  a  future 
different  to  the  present,  or  of  a  life  which  was  not  in 
every  respect  the  same  as  that  on  earth  had  been. 

'  "  Ilistoire  dii  Travail  eii  Gaule,"  p.  24. 


TOMBS.  3^1 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  motive,  this  mode  of 
burial  was  practised  from  the  Madeleine  period.^  At 
Bruniqnel,  in  Aveyron,  the  dead  were  found  crouching 
in  tlieir  last  home.  This  position  is,  however,  pecul- 
iarly characteristic  of  Neolithic  times,  and  is  met  with 
throughout  Europe.  Eight  skeletons  were  recently 
discovered  bending  foi'ward  in  the  sepulchral  cave  of 
Schwann  (Mecklenburg).  In  Scandinavia  there  are 
so  many  similar  cases  that  it  is  difficult  to  make  a 
selection.  In  the  sepulchral  cave  of  Oxevalla  (East 
Gothland )  the  dead  are  all  in  crouchino;  attitudes 
and  tumuli  dating  from  the  most  remote  antiquity 
cover  over  a  passage,  formed  of  immense  blocks  of 
stone,  leading  to  a  central  chamber,  in  which  are 
numerous  seated  skeletons  resting  against  the 
walls. 

On  the  shores  of  the  Meditei'ranean,  excavations  of 
the  Vence  Cave  (Alpes-Maritimes)  brought  to  light  a 
number  of  dead  arranged  in  a  circle  as  if  about  to  take 
a  meal  in  common.  The  bodies  were  crouching  in 
the  position  of  men  sitting  on  their  heels  ;  the  spinal 
column  was  bent  forward  and  tlie  head  nearly  touched 
the  knees.  In  the  centre  of  this  strange  group  were 
noticed  some  fragments  of  pottery  and  the  remains  of 
a  large  bird,  a  buzzard  probably.  Perhaps  its  death 
among  the  corpses  was  a  mere  accident.^  The  dolmens 
of  Aveyron  yielded  some  flint-flakes  and  arro^v-lleads, 
pieces  of  pottery,  pendants,  and  bone,  stone,  shell,  and 
slate-colored  schist  beads.  Beneath  one  of  these  dol- 
mens was  found  one  small  bronze  object,  quite  an  ex- 

'  Troyon  :    "  De    1' Attitude   Repliee    dans    la  Sepulture  Antique,"  Revue 
Arch.,  1864. 

'^  Materiaux,  1S75,  p.  327. 


352  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

ceptional  instance  of  tbe  occurrence  of  that  metal.  The 
skeletons  I'ested  against  the  walls.  In  one  of  the  tombs 
some  human  bones,  which  had  been  originally  placed 
at  the  entrance  to  the  cave,  liad  been  moved  to  the 
back ;  the  vancpiished  had  here,  as  in  life,  to  give  way 
before  the  conquerors.  Excavations  in  the  Mane-Lud 
tomb  have  led  explorers  to  suppose  that  here  too  the 
corpses  were  buried  in  a  crouching  j^osition.  It  is  the 
same  at  Luzarches  and  in  the  Varennes  cemetery  near 
Dormans.^  In  the  last  named  were  found  traces  of  a 
fire  that  had  l)een  lit  above  the  tomb,  and  some  pottery 
was  picked  up  ornamented  with  hollow  lines,  filled  with 
some  white  matter  not  unlike  barl)otine.  M.  de  Baye 
says  this  mode  of  interment  is  confined  to  the  district 
of  Marne  ;  but  for  all  that  he  himself  gives  an  example 
of  its  practice  elsewhere.' 

In  tlie  prehistoric  tombs  discovered  at  Cape  Blanc- 
Nez,  near  Escalles  (Pas-de-Calais),  the  position  in  which 
the  body  had  been  interred  could  be  made  out  in  four 
instances.  The  ends  of  the  tibii^,  humeri,  and  radii 
were  united,  the  bones  of  the  hands  were  found  near 
the  clavicles,  so  that  the  bodies  had  evidently  been 
bending  forward  with  the  arms  crossed  and  the  fingers 
pointing  toward  the  shoulders."  Similar  facts  are 
quoted  from  a  cave  at  Equehen  on  the  plateau  which 
stretches  along  the  seashore  on  the  east  of  Boulogne. 
The  bodies,  to  the  number  of  nine,  were  crouching 
with  the  face  turned  toward  tl«3  entrance  of  the  cave, 
which  was  closed  with  great  blocks  of  sandstone. 
Two    polished    stone    hatchets,    broken   doubtless   in 

'  A.  Nicaise  :  Mate'riattx,  1880,  p.  1S6. 

*  Arch.  Prehisiorique,  p.  178. 

^  Congrcs  Pr^historique  de  Brnxelles,  p.  299. 


TOMBS.  353 

accordance  with  some  sepulchral  rite,  had  been  placed 
near  the  skeletons. 

Numerous  human  bones  were  found  in  the  Cravanche 
Cave  near  Belfort,  which  probably  dates  from  the  close 
of  the  Neolithic  period,  judging  from  the  total  absence 
of  metal  and  the  shape  of  the  flint  and  bone  imple- 
ments picked  up.  Here  too  the  bodies  wei'e  bent 
almost  double,  the  head  di-ooping  forward  and  the 
knees  drawn  up  nearly  to  the  chin.  Several  of  these 
skeletons  were  completely  imbedded  in  the  stalagmite 
which  had  foi'med  in  the  cave,  the  head  and  knees 
alone  emerging  from  the  solid  mass.  The  position  in 
which  they  were  originally  placed  had  thus  of  necessity 
been  maintained.^ 

A  similar  rite,  for  rite  we  must  call  this  mode  of 
bui'ial,  was  practised  in  Italy,  and  the  Chevalier  de 
Rossi  speaks  of  a  tomb  of  the  Neolithic  ])eriod  at 
Cantalupo,  near  Rome,  in  which  one  of  the  bodies  was 
placed  in  the  crouching  attitude,  which  he  says  is 
familiar  to  all  who  have  studied  ancient  tombs.^  This 
practice  was  still  continued  in  protohistoric  times ; 
Schliemann  noticed  it  in  the  excavations  he  superin- 
tended at  Mykenaj,  and  Homer  says  that  amongst  the 
Lybians  the  dead  were  buried  seated. 

The  necropolis  near  Constantine  contains  numerous 
megalithic  monuments.  These  are  either  round  or 
square  cromlechs  surrounding  sarcophagi,  or  circular 
enceintes.,  in  which  the  dead  wei-e  laid  in  a  trench.  In 
the   former   there    are   always   a  great  many  funeral 

'  Bid.  Soc.  Antk.,  1876,  p.  191.     Grad  :  Nature,  1877,  ist  week,  p.  314. 

''■  Memorie  stille  scoperte  paleoethnologiche  dclla   cainpagna  romatta.      Pigorini 
adds  in  his  turn  :     "  I cadavcri  erano  ahittialincnte  adagiati  sul  Jiattco  sinistro, 
col  cranio  appogiato  sitlla  viano  sinistre  e  le  ginocchia  alquanto  piegate  in  guisa 
che  tavolta  si  trovarono  le  tibie  assai prossime  alia  cassa  ioracica," 
23 


354  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

objects  in  the  tomb,  and  the  body  of  tlie  dead  is  in  a 
croucbing  postui-e  ;  in  the  latter  there  are  few  things 
beside  the  corpse  itself,  and  that  is  in  a  recumbent 
position.  Do  these  peculiarities  denote  different  races? 
Do  the  tombs  all  date  from  the  same  period,  or  are 
these  arranscements  but  fresh  indications  of  the  differ- 
ence  everywhere  maintained  betvv^eeu  social  classes? 
It  is  difficult  to  decide,  and  we  must  be  content  with 
enumerating  facts.  We  may  add,  howevei",  that  the 
crouching  position  of  corpses  is  constantly  met  with  in 
Africa^ and  in  North  and  South  America, from  Canada 
to  Patagonia.^ 

The  funeral  rites  of  which  we  have  spoken  necessar- 
ily imply  burial ;  man  did  not  abandon  to  wild  beasts 
or  birds  of  prey  the  bodies  of  those  who  had  once  been 
like  himself.  At  Aurignac,  at  Bruniquel,  and  in  the 
Frontal  Cave,  the  cave  man  had  taken  the  precaution 
of  closing  with  the  largest  stones  he  could  find  the 
entrances  to  the  last  resting-places  of  those  belonging 
to  him.  The  caves  of  V Homme  Mart,  and  of  Petit- 
Morin  which  date  from  Neolithitic  times,  retain  traces 
of  similar  blocking  up.  There  were  five  entrances  to 
the  cave  of  Garenne  de  V'erneuil  (Marne)  in  which 
was  a  regular  ossuary ;  the  floor  was  paved  and  the 
roof  kept  up  with  eleven  upright  stones.  The  objects 
in  the  tomb  ^vith  the  dead  were  a  clumsy  earthenware 
vase,  a  few  flint  knives,  and  some  shell  necklace  beads. 

The  sides  of  the  almost  inaccessible  mountains  of 
Peru  are  pierced,  at  a  height  of  several  hundred  feet, 
with  numerous  caves  which  have  nearly  all  been  artl- 

'  Pallery  :  "  Mon.  Megalithiques  de  Mascara,"  BuL  Soc.  Ethii.,  1887. 
'Bancroft:     "The    Native    Races   of   the    Pacific,"  vol,    i.,    pp.    365,  etc. 
Moreno  :  "  Les  Paraderos  de  la  Patagonie,"  Rev.  d'Atitk.,  1874. 


TOMBS.  355 

ficially  enlarged.  It  was  in  tbem  tliat  the  Peruvians 
placed  their  dead,  and  the  people  of  the  countiy  still 
call  them  Tantama  Marca  or  abodes  of  desolation. 
The  entrances  were  concealed  with  extreme  care,  ])ut 
this  care  did  not  save  the  tombs  from  violation ;  the 
greed  for  the  treasures  supjiosed  to  be  concealed  in  the 
tombs  was  too  great  for  respect  to  the  unknown  dead 
to  hold  curiosity  in  check. 

In  other  cases,  the  dead  was  laid  near  the  hearth 
which  had  been  that  of  his  home  vfhen  living,  and  his 
abode  during  life  became  his  tomb.  The  dolmens, 
cella,  and  Gwngraben  in  Germany,  and  the  barrows  in 
England,  appear  to  bear  witness  to  the  prevalence  of  a 
similar  custom  in  those  countries  ;  and  we  find  the 
same  idea  perpetuated  even  when  cremation  became 
general.  At  Alba,  in  Latium,  at  Marino,  near  Albano, 
at  Vetulonia  and  Corneto-Tarquinia  were  discovered 
urns  with  dooi-s,  windows,  and  a  roof  imitating  human 
dwellings.' 

Later,  other  modes  of  sepulture  came  into  use.  In 
Marne  M.  Nicaise  made  out  seven  funeral  pits'  resem- 
bling in  shape,  he  tells  us,  long-necked  bottles  with  flat 
bottoms.  One  of  these  pits  at  Tours-sur-Marne  con- 
tained at  least  forty  skeletons,  and  among  the  bones 
were  found  thirty-four  polished  stone  hatchets,  fifty 
knives,  two  flint  lance-heads  and  a  great  many  arrows 
with  transverse  edges,  a  necklace  of  little  I'ound  bits  of 
limestone,  several  fragments  of  coarse  pottery  which 
had  been  mixed  with  grains  of  silica  and  baked  in  the 
fire,  and  lastly  three  little   flasks  made  of   staghorn 

' "  Necropole  de  Colonna,  prov.  de  Grosseto,"  R.  Acad,  del  Lincei,  Roma, 
1885. 
^  Bui.  Soc.Aiit/i.,  18S0,  p.  895, 


356  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

hollowed  out  in  a  curious  mauner  and  with  stoppers  of 
the  same  material.  These  quaint  little  flasks  doubtless 
contained  the  coloring  matter  with  which  the  dead  had 
painted  their  bodies  when  alive.  All  the  objects  of 
which  we  have  spoken  belonged  to  the  Neolithic  period ; 
but  a  flat  bronze  necklace  bead  made  by  folding  a 
thin  slice  of  metal,  a  radius,  and  a  bit  of  rilj  bearing' 
green  marks  resulting  from  long  contact  with  metal,  ap- 
pear to  fix  the  date  of  this  pit  at  the  transition  period 
between  the  Stone  and  Bronze  ao;es.  If  this  be  so  it 
is  quite  an  exceptional  case  of  a  sepulchral  pit  dating 
from  this  time,  for  most  of  those  known  are  of  much 
later  origin.  Those  for  instance  of  Mont-Beuvray, 
Bernard  (La  Vendee),  and  Beaugency  are  not  older 
than  Gallo-Roman  times.*  According  to  Count  Gozza- 
dini,  those  of  Manzabotto  in  Italy,  which  are  twenty- 
seven  in  number,  date  from  the  IVth  century  after  the 
foundation  of  Bome,  and  are  of  Etruscan  origin.  They 
are  constructed  with  small  pointed  pebbles,  with  no 
trace  of  cement,  and  resent ble  in  shape  a  long  amphora 
vase,  or  perhaps,  to  be  more  accurate,  the  clapper  of  a 
belL  They  are  from  six  and  a  half  to  thirty-two  and 
a  half  feet  deep,  with  an  opening  varying  in  diameter 
from  one  foot  to  nearly  two  and  a  half  feet.^ 

We  have  said  so  much  in  pi-eceding  chapters  on 
monuments  erected  in  memory  of  the  dead,  that  but 
little  remains  to  be  added  here.  Doubtless  there  are 
many  distinctions  to  be  noted  at  different  times  and  in 
different  countries,   but  everywhere   the  aim  remains 


'  Abbe  Baudry  et  Ballereau  :  "  Les  Puits  Funeraires  du  Bernard,"  La  Roche- 
sur-Von,  1873. 

* "  Renseignements  sur  iine  Ancienne  Necropole  Manzabotta,  pres  de 
Bologna,"  Bologna,  1871. 


TOMBS. 


357 


the  same,  and  the  means  used  for  attaining  that  end 
are  radically  the  same  all  the  world  over.  Take  for  ex- 
ample the  Aymaras,  the  most  ancient  race  of  Bolivia 
and  Callao ;  they  laid  their  dead  sometimes  beneath 
megalitliic  monuments  (Fig.  58,  p.  178)  resembling  the 
dolmens  of  Europe,  sometimes  beneath  towers  or  cJiul- 
pas,  which  are  however  probably  of  more  recent  date. 
Chulpas^  generally  of  square  or  rectangular  form, 
consist  of  a  mass  of 
unhewn  stones  faced 
outside  with  blocks 
of  trachyte  or  basalt, 
painted  red,  yellow,  or 
white.  A  very  low 
door,  always  facing 
east,  as  if  in  honor  of 
the  rising  sun,  gives 
access  to  a  cist  in 
which  the  dead  was 
laid.  The  chulpa  of 
our  illustration  (Fig. 
105)  is  situated  near 
the  village  of  Palca; 
it  rises  from  an  exca- 
vation four  feet  deep  ;  ^^''-  loS.-Chulpa  near  Palca. 

its  height  is  about  sixteen  feet,  and  the  cornice  consists 
of  ichu,  a  coarse  grass  which  grows  in  abundance  on  the 
mountains,  and  which  after  being  firmly  compressed  was 
cut  with  the  help  of  sharp  instruments.  The  human 
bones,  which  were  mixed  together  in  the  greatest 
confusion,  made  a  heap  in  the  sepulchral  chamber 
more  than  a  foot  high. 

The    mounds    of    Ohio    also   cover  over  sepulchral 


358  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

chambers  of  a  peculiar  construction,  being  often  formed 
of  round  pieces  of  wood,  five  to  seven  feet  long  by 
five  to  six  inches  in  diameter ;  near  the  bodies  \vere 
2:)laced  a  few  ornaments,  chiefly  copper  ear-rings,  shell 
beads,  and  large  flint  knives.  Most  of  the  skeletons 
lay  on  the  bare  earth  ;  but  one  exception  is  mentioned 
in  which  the  ground  was  paved  with  mussel  shells.  A 
remarkable  discovery  has  quite  recently  been  made  at 
Floyd  (Iowa),  the  account  of  which  in  Nature  for 
January  1,  1891,  we  will  give  in  the  words  of 
Clement  Webster :  "  In  making  a  thorough  explora- 
tion of  the  larger  mound  .  .  .  the  remains  of  five 
human  bodies  were  found,  the  bones  even  those  of  the 
fingers,  toes,  etc.,  being,  for  the  most  part  in  a  good 
state  of  preservation.  First,  a  saucer  or  bowl-shaped 
excavation  has  been  made,  extending  down  three  and 
three-quarter  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  ground 
around  the  mound,  and  the  bottom  of  this  maca- 
damized with  gravel  and  fragments  of  limestone.  In 
the  centre  of  this  floor  five  bodies  were  placed  in  a 
sitting  posture  with  the  feet  drawn  under  them,  and 
apparently  facing  the  north.  First  above  the  'bodies 
was  a  thin  layer  of  earth  and  ashes,  among  which  Avere 
found  two  or  three  small  pieces  of  fine-grained  charcoal. 
Nearly  all  the  remaining  four  feet  of  earth  had  been 
changed  to  a  red  color  by  the  long-continued  action  of 
fire."  Mr.  Webster  sroes  on  to  describe  the  various 
skeletons  and  says  of  one  of  them,  that  of  a  woman : 
"The  bones  in  their  detail  of  structure  indicated  a 
person  of  low  grade,  the  evidence  of  unusual  muscular 
development  being  strongly  marked.  The  skull  of 
this  personage  was  a  wonder  to  behold,  it  equalling  if 
not  rivalling  in  some  respects  and  in  inferiority  of  grade, 


TOMBS. 


359 


the  famous  Neanderthal  skull.  The  forehead,  if  fore- 
head it  could  be  called,  is  very  low,  lower  and  more 
animal-like  than  in  the  Neanderthal  specimen.    .    .    . 


Fig.  io6. — Dolmen  at  Auvernier  near  the  Lake  of  Neuchatel. 

The  question  has  been  raised  how  was  it  that  these 
five  bodies  were  all  buried  here  at  the  same  time, 
their  bodies  being  still  in  the  flesh."  .  .  .  AVebster 
adds  that  the  probability  is  that  all  but  one  of  the 


360  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

had  been  sacrificed  at  the  death  of  that  one,  wlio  had 
most  likely  been  a  chief. 

We  have  seen  that  men  began  by  placing  the  bodies 
of  their  dead  in  caves,  and  only  later  took  to  burying 
them  underground  when  caves  were  not  to  be  had. 
Very  often  the  corpse  was  placed  between  large  un- 
hewn stones  to  keep  off  from  it  the  weight  of  the 
tumulus  above.  Such  were  the  last  resting-places  alike 
of  the  men  of  Soluti'c  and  of  those  of  Merovingian  times. 
In  the  necropolis  of  Vilanova,  which  is  supposed  to 
date  from  times  prior  to  the  foundation  of  Rome,  the 
tombs  enclosed  a  chest,  the  walls  of  which  consisted  of 
slabs  of  sandstone  set  on  edge  and  connected  by  a  con- 
o-lomerate  of  small  stones.  At  Marzabotto,  the  chests 
are  made  of  bricks,  and  placed  beneath  a  heap  of  peb- 
bles. We  reproduce  a  chest  discovered  near  the  Lake 
Dwellings  of  Auvernier  in  Switzerland  (Fig.  106)  ^and 
another  (Fig.  107)  brought  to  light  by  MM.  Siret  in 
the  south  of  Spain.  These  drawings  will  help  us  bet- 
ter than  long  descriptions  to  form  an  idea  of  this  mode 
of  burial. 

In  other  cases  the  dead  body  was  enclosed  in  earthen- 
ware jars.  At  Biskra  in  Algeria,  two  of  these  jars  were 
found  together;  the  one  containing  the  head,  the  other 
the  feet  of  the  departed.  In  some  instances  the  jar 
was  replaced  l)y  a  large  clumsy  earthenware  basin,  some 
six  and  a  half  feet  long  by  three  feet  wide.  Such  l)asins 
are  mentioned  as  having  been  found  near  Athens,  but 
there  is  nothing  to  help  us  to  determine  their  date. 

'  Gross  :  "  Les  Proto-Helvetes."  Morel-Fatio  :  "  Sepultures  des  Populations 
Lacustres  de  Chamblandes."  As  at  Auvernier,  a  great  many  bears'  tusks  were 
found  lying  near  the  dead,  which  may  possibly  also  have  had  something  to  do 
with  a  funeral  rite. 


TOMBS. 


361 


The  ancient  Iberians  used  one  large  jar  only  (Fio-.  108) 
in  wliicli  the  dead  was  placed  in  a  crouchini^;  position, 
still  wearing  his  favorite  ornaments.  The  vase  was 
closed  with  a  stone  cover  and  placed  in  the  toml).  We 
meet  with  the  pi-actice  of  a  similar  mode  of  interment 
in  historic  times.  The  Chaldeans  placed  their  dead  in 
earthenware  vases ;  two  jars  connected  at  the  neck 
serving  as  a  coffin.     Excavations  in  Nebuchadnezzar's 


p:|ii.;,H|;;jji.s.riiiiigi!;iii!liii>^^ 


Fig.  107. — A  stone  chest  used  as  a  sepulchre. 

palace  brought  to  light  bodies  bent  nearly  double  and 
enclosed  in  urns  not  more  than  three  feet  in  height  by 
about  two  feet  in  width.  On  the  western  coast  of  Mala- 
bar, as  far  as  Cape  Comorin,  we  find  near  megalithic 
tombs  large  jars  four  feet  high  by  three  feet  in  diameter 
filled  with  human  bones.  This  mode  of  sepulture  was 
practised  at  Sfax,in  the  Chersonesus  of  Thracia,  and  at 
the  foot  of  the  hill  on  which  Troy  was  built.     The  tu- 


362  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

mill  US  of  Hauai-Tepeli  covered  over  a  huge  amphora  in 
which  crouched  a  skeleton,  and  the  wealthy  Ja[)auese 
loved  to  know  they  would  rest  in  huge  artistically 
decorated  vases,  masterpieces  of  native  pottery.  If  we 
cross  the  Atlantic,  we  meet  with  the  same  custom  in 
Peru,  Mexico,  and  on  the  shores  of  the  Mississippi. 
At  Teotihuacan,  the  bodies  of  children  were  placed 
head  downwards  in  funeral  urns/  and  excavations  in 
the  alluvial  deposits  of  the  Mississippi  yielded,  among 
immense  quantities  of  pottery,  two  huge  rectangular 
basins  glued  together  with  clay  and  containing  the 
body  of  a  young  child.  It  is  indeed  interesting  to  meet 
with  the  same  practice  in  so  many  different  places  and 
to  find  the  genius  of  many  races  expressing  itself  in 
the  same  way  in  so  many  diverse  inventions,  produced 
at  times  so  widely  separated. 

It  is  probable  that  early  man  also  turned  to  account 
the  trees  he  saw  growing  around  him,  using  them  as 
coffins  for  his  dead.  But  the  rapid  decay  of  this 
fragile  case  led  to  its  total  disappearance.  A  few  ex- 
ceptions must,  however,  be  mentioned.  In  1840  some 
dredgers  took  from  the  bed  of  the  Saone,  at  Apre- 
mont,  from  beneath  a  bed  of  gravel  five  feet  thick, 
the  trunk  of  a  tree  which  still  contained  the  bones 
that  had  been  placed  in  it.  Similar  discoveries  were 
made  in  the  Cher,  and  in  the  celebrated  cemetery  of 
Hallstadt,  near  Salzburg.  The  cairns  of  Scania  cov- 
ered  over  split  trunks  of  oak  and  birch  trees,  which 
had  been  hoUow^ed  out  to  receive  the  dead.  At  Gris- 
thorj^e,  near  Scarborough,  in  England,  a  coffin  was 
found  made  of  scarcely  squared  planks  roughly  put 
together ;  and  another  very  like  it  was  discovered  at 

'  D.  Charnay  :   North  American  Review,  January,  1881. 


m 


364  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

Hove,  in  Sussex,  tlie  latter  containing  a  splendid  am- 
ber cup,  evidence  of  the  wealth  of  the  man  who  had 
been  buried  in  this  primitive  coffin/ 

The  ancient  Caledonians  sewed  up  their  dead  in  the 
skins  of  oxen  before  burying  them.  The  Egyptians 
also  embalmed  the  ibis,  the  ox,  the  cat,  the  crocodile, 
and  other  animals  deified  by  tliem,  and  the  bodies  of 
these  creatures  were  then  placed  in  vast  subterranean 
chambers,  where  they  have  been  discovered  in  the 
present  day  in  great  numbers.  The  Guanches  of 
Teneriffe,  the  last  representatives  of  the  Iberians,  and 
probably  the  most  ancient  race  of  Europe,  took  out 
the  intestines  of  the  corpse,  dried  the  body  in  the  air, 
painted  it  with  a  thick  varnish,  and  finally  wrapped 
it  in  the  skin  of  a  goat.  This  last  custom  was  evi- 
dently a  relic  of  the  original  idea  of  embalming,  with 
a  view  to  rendering  the  mummy  as  nearly  as  possible 
indestructible  and,  to  use  a  happy  expression  of 
Michelet,  to  compel  death  to  endure  (forcer  la  mort 
de  durer ).  Our  own  contemporaries  are  thus  able  to 
look  upon  the  very  features  of  those  who  preceded 
them  on  the  earth  some  forty  centuries  ago  ;  and  but 
yestei'day  photography  reproduced  in  every  detail 
what  was  once  Kamses  the  Great,  one  of  the  most 
glorious  kings  of  history. 

Embalming  was  also  practised  in  America.  Kecent 
travellers  report  ^  having  seen  in  Upper  Peru  tombs  of 
the  shape  of  beehives,  made  of  stones  cemented  with 
clay,  each  tomb  containing  one  mummy  or  more  in  a 
crouching  position  (Figs.  109  and  110).  This  custom 
was  still  practised  for  many  centuries ;  Garcilasso  de  la 

'  Stuart :  "  The  Early  Modes  of  Burial." 

-  Vidal  Seneze  ;  Bui.  Soc.  Anth.,  1877,  p.  561. 


365 


Fig.  log. — Aymara  mummy. 


366  PRr.IlIsrOKlC  PKOPLES. 

Vega  tells  us  that  the  dead  Iiicas  were  seated  in  a  teipple 
at  Cuzco,  wearing  their  royal  ornaments  as  if  they  were 
still  alive;  their  hands  were  crossed  upon  their  breasts, 
and  their  heads  were  bending  slightly  forward/ 

The  facts  enumerated  above  prove  that  burial  was 
long  practised,  though  it  is  impossible  to  say  when  it 
first  came  into  use.  About  the  time  of  the  beginning 
of  the  Bronze  age,  or  pei"haps  even  earlier,  however, 
a  remarkable  change  took  place  in  the  ideas  of  man, 
and  the  dead  instead  of  being  bui-ied  intact  were  con- 
sumed by  fire  on  the  funeral  pile. 

What  can  have  been  the  origin  of  this  custom? 
What  race  first  practised  it  ?  It  has  long  been  sup- 
posed by  many  archaeologists  that  it  was  the  Aryans 
from  the  lofty  Hindoo  Koosh  Mountains  who  first  in- 
ti'oduced  into  Europe  a  civilization  more  advanced 
than  that  which  had  hitherto  ol)tained  there,  and 
taught  the  people  to  cremate  instead  of  bury  their 
dead.  This  theory  was  accepted  for  a  considerable 
time  without  question,  but  of  late  years  a  new  school, 
headed  by  Penka,  has  arisen  who  claim  that  the  re- 
formei's  came  not  from  the  East  but  from  the  North. 
The  Marquis  de  Saporta  had  indeed  before  suggested 
that  the  primitive  races  who  were  the  contemporaries 
of  the  mammoth  and  the  rhinoceros  came  originally 
from  the  polar  regions,  where  the  remains  of  a 
luxuriant  vegetation  prove  that  climatic  conditions 
prevailed  in  remote  times  of  a  very  diiferent  chai'acter 
to  those  of  the  present  day.  The  lignites  of  Iceland 
are  made  np  of  tulip,  plantain,  and  nut-trees,  even  the 
vine  sometimes  occurrino;.  In  the  ferru2:inous  sand- 
stones,  associated  Avitli  the  carboniferous  deposits  of 

'  "  Histoire  des  Incas,"  Paris,  1744,  chap,  xviii. 


TOMBS. 


367 


Spitzberg,  the  beech,  tlie  poplar,  the  magnolia,  the 
plum  tree,  the  sequoia,  and  numerous  coniferous  trees 
can  be  made  out.  The  sturdy  sailors  who  dare  the 
regions  of  [)erpetual  ice  come  across  masses  of  fossilized 
wood  in  Banks,  Giiunell,  and  Francis  Joseph's  Lands, 
at  88°  N.  Lat.  Amons;  this  fossil  wood  Heer  made 
out  the  cypress,  the  silver  pine,  the  poplar,  the  birch, 
and  some  dicotyledons  with  caducous  leaves.  These 
were  not  relics  of  wood   which   had  drifted   where  it 


In;,  no. — I'eruvian  inuinmies. 

was  found  on  floating  ice,  but  of  an  actual  local  vege- 
tation, as  proved  by  trunks  still  ei-ect  in  their  original 
positions,  buds,  leaves,  and  flowers  in  every  stage  of 
growth,  fruits  in  every  stage  of  rl[)ening.  The  very 
insects  that  had  lived  on  honey  from  the  fl()\vers  or  on 
the  leaves  themselves  could  be  identified.  In  those 
remote  days,  life,  abundant  life,  similar  to  that  now 
only  found  in  the  temperate  countries  farther  south, 
flourished  in  those  polar  regions,  so  long  supposed  to 
have  never  been  anything  but  lifeless  deserts. 


^6S  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

All  this,  pLiusible  as  it  is,  does  not,  however,  appear 
to  be  conclusive  on  tlie  [)oiiit  under  discussion  ;  and 
though  we  may  have  to  abandon  the  idea  of  the 
Aiyans  having  introduced  cremation,  we  are  scarcely, 
I  think,  in  a  position  to  say  that  races  from  the  North 
were  the  first  to  jn'actise  it.  I  have  dwelt  more  fully 
on  the  question  of  the  origin  of  races  and  the  evidence 
which  language  seems  to  give  of  a  common  source  in 
two  papers  called  "  Les  Premiei's  Populations  de 
TEurope,"  whicli  ap[)eared  in  the  Correspondent  for 
October  1  and  November  25,  1889.  Whatever  may 
be  the  final  decision  on  the  much  contested  points 
involved  in  this  controversy,  one  tlung  is  certain  that 
cremation,  involving  tliough  it  does  a  complete  revolu- 
tion in  manners  and  customs,  spread  with  very  great 
rapidity.  We  meet  with  it  from  Greece  to  Scotland 
and  Scandinavia,  from  Etruria  to  Poland  and  the 
south  of  Russia,  in  China  as  in  Yucatan  and  certain 
parts  of  Central  America. 

In  tlie  early  days  of  history,  cremation  was  practised 
all  over  Europe.  The  Greeks  attri})ute  its  inaugura- 
tion to  Hercules,  and  tlie  funeral  pile  of  Patrokles  is 
described  in  the  Iliad.  The  Pelasgians  and  the  Proto- 
Etruscans  burned  their  dead, '  and  we  are  told  of  the 
incinei'ation  of  contem[)oraries  of  Jaii",  the  third  judge 
of  Israel. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  earliest  inhabitants  of  Latium 
buried  their  dead.  Visitors,  who  probably  came  by 
way  of  the  valley  of  the  Danube,  introduced  the  new 
custom,  and  for  a  longtime  the  two  rites  were  pi'actised 
side  by  side.  At  Felsina  and  at  Marzabotto  we  find 
instances  alike  of  inhumation  and  cremation,  and  at 

'  Conestabile  :    "  De  I'incineration  cliez  les  Etrusques." 


Tombs.  369 

Vilanova  only  half  the  tombs  are  those  of  corpses  that 
had  been  cremated.  In  865  of  the  tombs  excavated  in 
the  Certosa,  near  Bologna,  only  115  show  signs  of 
cremation  having  been  practised.  At  Rome,  the  two 
rites  were  long  both  performed,  probably,  however, 
by  the  two  distinct  peoples  who  formed  the  primitive 
jiopulation  of  the  town  of  Komiilns.  We  know  that 
Nmna  Pompilius  forbade  the  burning  of  his  corpse ; 
Cicero  relates  that  Mariiis  was  buried,  and  that  Sulla, 
his  fortunate  i-ival,  was  the  first  of  the  Cornelia  gen8 
whose  body  was  committed  to  the  flames.  We  do  not 
know  how  early  cremation  was  introduced  in  Gaul ; 
we  can  only  say  that  Caesar  found  it  generally  practised 
when  he  made  his  triumphal  march  across  the  country.^ 
The  celebrated  excavations  of  Moreaii  prove  that  in- 
humation and  incineration  were  both  practised  among 
the  Gallo-Romans  established  in  the  eastern  provinces 
of  France,  We  may  even  assert  that  the  two  rites  were 
practised  long  before  the  introduction  of  the  use  of 
metals.  One  thing  is  certain,  the  custom  of  cremation 
was  but  slowly  al)andoned  as  Christianity  spi-ead,  for 
Charlemagne,  in  an  edict  dated  789,  ordered  the  punish- 
ment of  death  for  those  who  dared  to  burn  dead  bodies. 
What  we  have  just  said  about  historic  times  applies 
equally  to  more  remote  epochs.  Thanks  to  the  learned 
researches  of  Dr.  Prunieres'^  We  are  able  to  trace  for  a 
great  length  of  time  the  modes  of  sepulture  adopted  in 
Lozere.  The  cave  men  of  the  eroded  limestone  dis- 
ti'icts  of  Les  Causses  took  their  dead  to  the  caves  in 
which  their  ancestors  had  been  laid,  and  the  invaders, 
who   were  probably   more   civilized   than    those   they 

'  A.  Bertram!  :    "  Arch.  Celtiqiieet  tlauloise,"  Intrcxluction. 
^  Ass.  fratnaise,  Nantes,  1875;   Havre,  1877. 

24 


370  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES, 

dispossessed,  placed  theirs  beneath  the  dolmens  which 
they  erected  in  their  honor.  In  the  sepulchral  caves  of 
Koiiquet  and  of  UHornme  Mort  we  find  inhumation ; 
beneath  the  megalithic  monuments  dating  from  the 
end  of  the  Neolithic  period,  we  meet  with  the  first 
traces  of  cremation,  but  so  far  of  a  very  incomplete 
cremation ;  the  action  of  the  funeral  fire  had  not  been 
intense,  and  the  bones  were  hard  and  resisted  the  heat. 
Noting  beneath  certain  dolmens  a  few  bones  black- 
ened by  fire  mixed  with  large  quantities  unaffected  by 
it,  one  is  inclined  to  think  with  the  learned  Doctor, 
that  after  practising  cremation  men  had  reverted  to 
the  old  mode  of  burial.  In  the  tumuli  of  the  Bronze 
age,  on  the  other  hand,  where  the  date  can  be  deter- 
mined with  the  aid  of  the  ornaments  and  trinkets  scat- 
ered  about,  the  nstion  was  more  complete  ;  the  bones 
are  friaV)le  and  porous,  crumbling  into  dust  when 
touched,  and  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  inhuma- 
tion and  cremation  were  both  practised. 

It  is  strange  indeed  to  find  that  incineration  was 
practised  from  Neolithic  times  in  the  wild  moun- 
tains of  Lozei'e.  There  can  be  no  doubt  on  the  point, 
however,  and  excavations  beneath  the  dolmen  of  Mar- 
connieres  strikingly  confirm  the  eai'lier  discoveries 
of  Dr.  Prunieres.  Beneath  a  layer  of  broken  stones 
and  a  very  thin  pavement,  was  found  a  mass  of  human 
bones  in  the  greatest  confusion  ;  some  still  retaining 
their  natural  color,  others  blackened  and  charred  by 
fire.  Among  these  bones  was  picked  up  an  arrow  of 
rock  foi'eign  to  the  country,  three  admirably  polished 
lance-heads,  and  some  finely  cut  flint-darts.  The  dol- 
men contained  no  metal  objects,  and  there  was  no 
trace  of  metal  on  any  of  the  bones. 


TOMBS.  371 

At  the  same  period  the  two  rites  appear  to  have 
been  practised  simultaneously  in  Armoi'ica,  but  there 
incineration  was  the  dominant  custom.  In  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-five  megalithic  monuments  supposed  to 
date  from  the  Neolithic  })eriod,  seventy-two  give  proof 
of  incineration  and  twenty  of  inhumation  only.  The 
othei's  yielded  a  few  cinders,  Init  it  was  impossible  to 
come  to  any  definite  conclusion.  In  many  cases,  as 
^ve  have  seen,  the  megalithic  monument  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  double  or  triple  enceinte  of  stones 
without  mortar.  Inside  these  enceintes  were  some 
small  circular  sti'uctures  made  of  stones  reddened 
by  the  action  of  heat.  In  the  lower  part  of  these 
structures  were  openings  to  admit  a  current  of  air 
to  fan  the  flames.  These  strange  structures,  full  of 
cinders  and  black  greasy  earth,  bear  the  significant 
name  of  Ruches  de  Cremation}  Of  thirty-nine  sepul- 
chres of  the  Bronze  age  twenty-sev^en  gave  evidence 
of  incineration,  two  of  inhumation,  whilst  ten  decided 
nothing  one  way  or  the  other.'^  The  dolmen  of  Mont 
St.-Michel  and  that  of  Tumiac  are  separated  by  a 
short  distance  only ;  they  were  erected  l)y  the  same 
race  and  probably  about  the  same  [)eriod,  yet  at  Mont 
St.-Michel  we  find  incineration,  while  inhumation  was 
practised  at  Tumiac.  How  explain  this  difference  in 
funeral  customs  ?  Does  it  imply  a  diversity  of  race, 
of  caste,  of  religion,  or  of  social  position,  or  may  it 
not  rather  be  explained  as  being  merely  the  I'esult  of 
those  later  displacements  which  upset  the  most  careful 
reasoning  ? 

'  Luco  :  "  Exposition  de  Trois  Monuments  Quadrilateres  par  feu  James  Miln," 
Vannes,  1883. 

*  P.  du  Chatellier  :  "Mem.  Soc.  d'Emulation  des  Cotes-du-Nord,"  Saint 
Brieuc,  18S3. 


372  pkEinsTORic  peoples. 

Whatever  may  have  })een  tlie  cause  of  the  different 
modes  of  burial,  we  meet  with  them  in  every  country. 

In  Scandinavia,  dui'ing  the  Bronze  age,  cremation  and 
burial  were  practised  in  about  equal  proportions. 
Similar  facts  are  noticed  in  Germany,  but  in  the  North 
incineration  pi-edominates,  while  in  the  West  it  is  in- 
liumation.  Beneath  the  cairns  of  Caithness  in  Scotland, 
we  find  some  bodies  lying  at  full  length,  while  others 
are  in  a  bent  position,  and  large  Jars  of  coarse  pottery 
filled  with  cinders  and  calcined  bones  which  had  be- 
longed to  men  of  medium  height.  One  of  the  largest 
of  these  jars  is  fifteen  oi-  sixteen  inches  higli  by  forty- 
nine  wide  at  its  lai'gest  part.^  In  excavating  the 
barrows  of  the  Orkney  Islands,  Petrie  noted  the  prac- 
tice of  both  modes  of  burial';  but  were  those  buried 
in  manners  so  different  contemporaries  ?  This  is  what 
we  are  not  told,  and  what  we  have  to  find  out. 

At  Blen(lo\vo  in  Poland,  beneath  a  cromlech  was 
found  an  urn  filled  with  calcined  bones,  and  thirty  cen- 
timetres lower  down  a  skeleton  was  discovered  buried 
in  the  sand.  Near  this  body  was  found  a  c(jin  of 
Theodosius,  and  we  wonder  in  vain  whether  both  the 
individuals,  whose  remains  are  thus  within  a  common 
tomb,  lived  at  the  same  time.  Thi'oufj-hout  Pj'ussia 
and  in  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Posen  skeletons  and  Jars 
containing  human  ashes  are  met  with  in  the  same 
tombs.''  We  must  not  foi-get  to  note,  especially,  the 
necropolis  of  Hallstadt,  which  was  situated  in  the 
heart  of  the  district  of  Bohemia  occupied  by  the  Boii. 

'  Proceedings  Soc.  A  nth.  of  Scotland,  ]a.x\\\&ry  ii,  1886. 

^  "  On  the  Ancient  Modes  of  Sepulchre  in  the  Orkneys"  {British  Association, 

1877). 

^  Kohn  and  Mehlis  :  "  Ziir  Vorgeschichte  des  Menschen  im  Ostlichen  Europa," 
lena,  1879. 


Tombs.  373 

The  most  ancient  of  the  tombs  in  these  vast  burial- 
places  date  from  about  two  thousand  years  before  the 
Christian  era,  and  the  Hallstadtian  period,  as  it  is 
sometimes  called,  culminated  during  the  first  half  of 
the  millennium  immediately  l^efore  the  coming  of 
Christ.'  Nine  hundred  and  ninety-three  tombs  have 
been  excavated  ;  all,  to  judge  by  the  objects  found  with 
the  human  remains,  belonging  to  the  Bronze  age;  of 
these  five  hundred  and  twenty-seven  contained  buried 
bodies,  and  four  hundred  and  fifty-three  cremated 
relics/'  This  is  a  larger  proportion  than  in  the  primi- 
tive uecropoles  of  Italy. 

In  the  tombs  in  which  burial  was  practised,  the 
bodies  were  laid  in  the  trench  witliout  covering,  and 
the  remains  of  anything  in  the  way  of  slabs  or  cofiins 
or  protecting  ^^lanks  are  very  rare  ;  in  those  tomljs  in 
which  cremation  had  V)een  the  rule,  ustion  had  often 
been  very  incomplete,  sometimes  the  head  and  some- 
times the  feet  having  escaped  the  flames. 

Similar  facts  are  noted  at  Watscli,  at  San  Margare- 
theu,  and  at  Vermo  in  Styria,  at  Rovesche  in  Southern 
Carniola,  and  at  Rosegg  in  the  valley  of  the  Drave. 
At  Watsch,  but  ten  skeletons  were  found,  among  two 
hundred  examples  of  incineration.  In  the  cremation 
sepulchres,  if  we  may  so  call  them,  the  cinerary  urn 
was  protected  by  large  slabs ;  while  in  those  where 
burial  was  practised,  the  bodies  were  simply  confided 
to  the  earth  as  at  Hallstadt ;  T)ut  1)}^  a  singular  contrast, 
the   latter     tombs   contained    much    more   important 

'  Hochstetter  :  "  Die  neueste  Graber  Fuiide  von  Watsch.  und  S.  Margarethen 
und  der  Kultur  Kreiss  der  Hallstadter  Period,"  Wien,  1883.  Siebenter  : 
"  Bericht  der  Prehistorischen  Commission,"  Wien,  1884. 

''In  these  tombs  were  found  64  gold  objects,  5,574  bronze,  593  iron,  270 
amber,  73  glass,  and  1,813  terra-cotta.    A.  Bertrand  :  Rev.  d  Ethnographie,  18S3. 


374  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES, 

relics,  tlie  objects  with  the  dead  being  more  valuable 
and  of  finer  workmanship.  At  Rovesche,  the  urn  was 
placed  in  a  square  chest  made  of  unhewn  stones.  The 
buried  bodies  lay  with  the  head  turned  towai-d  the 
east,  an  urn  was  placed  at  their  feet,  and  their  shi'ouds 
were  kept  in  })lace  by  bronze  fibuhe,  while  on  the 
fingers  were  many  rings  of  the  same  metal. 

Lastly,  to  conclude  this  gloomy  catalogue,  excava- 
tions in  the  mounds  of  Ohio  and  Illinois^  have  shown 
that  there  too  cremation  and  inliumation  are  met  with 
in  sepulchres  wliich  eveiything  tends  to  assign  to  the 
same  race  and  the  same  period.^  The  sepulchral  crypts 
of  Missouri  contain  sevei'al  skeletons  which  had  been 
subjected  to  intense  heat.  The  human  bones  were 
mixed  with  the  remains  of  animals,  fragments  of  char- 
coal, and  pieces  of  pottery,  with  some  fiint  weapons. 
In  a  neighboring  mound  excavations  revealed  no  trace 
of  cremation ;  the  bodies  were  stretched  out  upon  the 
ground,  and  those  who  discovered  them  picked  nj)  near 
them  a  valuable  collection  of  flints  and  of  carefully 
made  pottery.  Thei'e  is  however  nothing  to  show 
whether  those  who  buried  and  those  who  burnt  their 
dead  belonsjed  to  the  same  race  or  lived  at  the  same 
time.  Cremation  lons^  survived  amono;  the  most 
savage  tribes  of  Alaska  and  Califoi-nia,  where  it  is  still 
practised,  and  the  Indians  of  Florida  preserve  the 
ashes  of  their  fathers  in  human  skulls.  In  California, 
the  relations  of  the  deceased  covered  their  faces  ^vith 
a  thick  paste  of  a  kind  of  loam  mixed  with  the  ashes 
of  the  dead,  and  were  compelled  to  wear  this  sign  of 
their  grief  until  it  fell  off  naturally. 

'  Smithsonian  Report,  i88i. 

*  Putnam,  xii.  and  xx.  Reports  of  the  Peahody  Museum. 


Tombs.  375 

Althougli  we  meet  with  the  burial  of  the  dead  either 
in  a  recumbent  or  a  crouching  position,  everywhere  the 
minor  ceremonies  connected  with  death  are  innumera- 
ble ;  each  people,  each  race,  indeed,  having  its  own  cus- 
tom, handed  down  from  one  generation  to  another,  and 
piously  preserved  intact  by  each  successive  family. 
Feasting  was  from  the  earliest  times  a  feature  of  the 
funeral  ceremonies.  An  edict  of  Charlemagne  forbids 
eatino;  and  di-inkins:  on  the  tombs  of  the  deceased,  and 
Saint  Boniface,  the  apostle  of  Germany,  cora})lains  bit- 
tei'ly  that  the  priests  encouraged  by  their  presence 
these  feasts  of  death.  We  meet  with  the  same  kind 
of  thing  among  the  lower  classes  at  the  present  day, 
and  the  cemetei-ies  of  Paris  ai'e  surrounded  with  cafes 
and  wine  shops,'  where  too  often  grief  is  drowned  in 
wine.  The  custom  of  holding  these  feasts  really  comes 
down  fi'om  the  earliest  inhabitants  of  Euro[)e,  and  the 
savage  cave  man  gorged  himself  with  food  upon  the 
tombs  of  those  belonging  to  him.  At  Auiignac,  in  the 
cave  of  L'' Homme  Mart,  in  the  Trou  du  Frontal, 
broken  bones  and  frag^ments  of  charcoal  bear  witness 
to  the  repast.  Similar  traces  of  feasts  are  met  with 
beneath  the  dolmens  and  the  tumuli.  From  the  Long 
Barrows  have  been  taken  the  skulls  and  feet  of  bovid.-e, 
and  it  is  probable  that  the  other  parts  of  the  body  had 
been  devoured  by  the  assistants,  and  that  the  head  and 
feet  were  })laced  in  the  tomb  as  an  oifering  eithei"  to 
the  dead  or  to  the  divinities  who  are  supposed  to  have 
presided  at  the  death.  In  the  ancient  sepulchres  of 
Wiltshire  Sir  K.  Colt  Hoare  picked  up  the  bones  of 
boars,  stags,  sheep,  horses,  and  dogs  ;  which  he  too  con- 
sidered were  the  remains  of  funeral  feasts. 

Were  feasts  the  only  ceremonies  connected  with  in- 


37^  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

terments  ?  We  think  not.  The  body  was  often  placed 
in  the  centre  of  the  sepulchral  chamber,  and  around  it 
were  ranged  the  wives,  servants,  and  slaves  of  the  de- 
ceased, condemned  to  follow  their  chief  into  the  un- 
known world  to  which  he  had  gone.  Beneath  a  dol- 
men of  Algeria  was  found  a  crouching  skeleton  with 
two  crania  lying  at  his  feet,  which  crania  had  doubtless 
belonged  to  victims  immolated  in  his  honor.  The 
barrows  of  Great  Britain  preserve  traces  of  human- 
sacrifices,  and  Caesar  says  in  speaking  of  the  Gauls : 
"Their  funerals  are  magnificent  and  sumptuous. 
Everything  supposed  to  have  been  dear  to  the  de- 
funct during  his  life  was  flung  upon  the  funeral  pile ; 
even  his  animals  were  sacrificed,  and  until  quite 
recently  his  slaves  and  the  dependants  he  had  loved 
were  burnt  with  him." ' 

The  facts  we  have  been  noticing  prove  that  early 
man  cherished  hopes  of  immortality.  All  was  not  ended 
for  him  with  death ;  a  new  life  commences  beyond 
the  tomb,  marked — for  his  ideas  could  go  no  farther — 
by  joys  similar  to  those  he  had  known  on  earth,  and 
events  such  as  had  occuri'ed  during  his  life.  What 
else  could  be  the  meaning  of  the  weapons,  the  tools  of 
his  craft,  the  vases  filled  with  food  placed  near  the  de- 
funct, the  ornaments  and  colors  intended  for  his  adorn- 
ment, the  wives,  slaves,  and  horses  flung  into  the  same 
tomb  or  consumed  upon  the  same  pile  ?  It  is  pleasing 
to  find  this  supreme  hope  among  our  remote  ances- 
tors ;  and  clumsily  as  it  was  expressed,  it  im2:)lies  a  be- 
lief in  a  being  superior  to  man,  a  protecting  divinity 
according  to  some,  but  according  to  some  few  others  a 

'  "  De  Bello  Gallico,"  book  vi.,  cap.  xix.     Consult  also  Pomponius  Mela: 
"  De  Situ  Orbis,"  book  iii.,  cap.  ii. 


TOMBS.  2)77 

malignant  and  tyrannical  spirit.  The  proofs  so  far  to 
hand  are  not  enough  to  justify  us  in  seriously  asserting 
that  ancestors  were  worshipped  by  prehistoric  man. 
But  tlie  subject  is  too  important  for  us  to  refrain  from 
imtting  before  the  reader  such  indications  of  this  wor- 
ship as  have  been  collected,  and  which  are  necessarily 
connected  Avith  the  moral  and  material  condition  of 
our  remote  ancestors. 

The  radius  of  a  mammoth  was  discovered  at  Chalenx, 
occupying  a  place  of  honor  on  a  large  sandstone  slab 
near  the  hearth.  The  Chaleux  Cave  dates  from  the 
Reindeer  period ;  at  Avhich  time  the  mammoth  had  long 
since  been  extinct  in  Belgium,  so  that  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  cave  man  had  taken  this  bone  from  the 
alluvial  deposits  of  the  preceding  epoch,  and  this  huge 
relic  of  an  unknown  creature  had  been  the  object  of 
his  veneration,  a  lar  or  protective  divinity  of  his  home. 
A  somewhat  similar  fact  was  discovered  at  Laugerie- 
Basse  and,  by  a  strange  coincidence,  certain  ti'ibes  of 
North  America  of  the  present  day  preserve  the  bone 
of  a  mastodon  or  of  a  cetacean  in  their  huts  as  a  pro- 
tection to  their  homes. 

From  Paleolithic  times  men  were  in  the  hal)it  of 
cutting  celts  or  hatchets  in  chalk,  bitumen,  and  otber 
fragile  substances,  wliicli  were  certainly  of  no  practical 
use.  Thousands  of  similar  objects  in  harder  I'ock,  but 
showing  no  sign  of  wear  or  tear,  have  also  been  found, 
and  there  is  little  doubt  that  they  all  alike  served  as 
amulets.  This  superstitious  respect  for  certain  objects 
lasted  for  many  centuries,  and  was  handed  down  from 
one  generation  to  another.  The  tombs  of  the  Bronze 
and  Iron  ages  are  often  found  to  contain  flint  hatchets, 
some  of  them  broken  intentionally,  a  proof,  as  I  have 


378  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

already  said,  that  they  were  connected  Avith  funeral 
rites  of  the  nature  of  which  we  are  ignorant. 

We  also  find  votive  hatchets  beneath  dolmens.  By 
the  side  of  some  skeletons  at  Cissbury  lay  flint  celts. 
A  hatchet  one  and  a  quarter  feet  long  was  found  in 
a  Lake  Station  of  Switzerland.  It  was  of  such  friable 
rock  that  it  can  have  been  of  no  use  ])ut  as  a 
symbol ;  perhaps,  indeed,  it  may  have  been  a  badge 
of  office.  Lastly,  Merovingian  tombs  contain  hundreds 
of  small  flint  celts,  the  last  pious  offerings  to  the 
departed.^ 

We  find  hatchets  engraved  on  the  megalithic  monu- 
ments of  Brittany,  on  the  walls  of  the  caves  of  Marne, 
and  we  meet  with  them  again  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic,  evidently  bearing  the  same  signification,  im- 
plying respect  for  them  as  means  of  protection.  I)e 
Long]:>t'i'ier  has  published  a  description  of  a  Chaldean 
cylinder,  on  which  was  represented  a  priest  presenting 
his  offering  to  a  hatchet  lying  on  a  throne,  and  a  ring 
was  picked  up  at  Mykense,  on  the  stone  of  which  w^as 
engraved  a  double-bladed  celt.  We  find  the  same  idea 
in  many  different  mythologies.  The  word  Nouter 
(God)  is  translated  in  Egyptian  hieroglyphics  by  a 
sign  reseml)ling  a  celt,  and  the  hatchet  of  Odin  is 
engraved  on  the  rocks  of  Kivrik.  On  a  number  of 
Gallo-Roman  cippi,  we  find  a  hatchet  beneath  \vhich 
we  read  the  words,  Dls  Manihiis,  and  lower  down  the 
dedication,  Suh  Ascia  dedwavit.  At  all  times  and 
everywhere  the  hatchet  appears  as  the  emblem  of 
force,  and  is  the  object  of  the  respect  of  the  people. 

'  In  his  fruitful  excavations  of  Gallic,  Gallo-Roman,  and  Merovingian  tombs, 
Moreau  collected  ni)  less  than  31,515  flint  celts  or  hatchets,  which  had  evidently 
been  votive  offerint^s.  See  Album  de  Caranda  :  "  Fouilles  de  Sainte  Restitute, 
de  Trugny,  d'Armenticre,  d'Arcy,  de  Brenny,"  etc. 


TOMBS. 


379 


The  tradition  of  its  value  and  importance   is  lianded 
down  from  ancestors  to  descendants  throughout  many 


generations. 


May  we  give  a  religious  interpretation  to  tlie  basins 
and  cups  lioUowed  out  on  rocks  and  erratic  l)locks  and 
on  the  so-called  Hoches  Moutonnees^  with  other  mouu- 


FlG.  iir. — Erratic  l)lnck  from  Scania,  covered  with  carvings. 

ments  that  have  endured  for  many  centuries  (Figs. 
Ill  and  112)  ?  Or  must  we  attribute  them  merely  to 
passing  capi'ice  ?  Their  number  and  importance  we 
tliink  forbid  the  latter  idea.  We  iind  sucli  blocks  in 
Switzerland,  in  England,  France,  Italy,  Portugal,  and 
on  the  frozen  shores  of  the   Baltic.     They  are  no  less 


380  PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 

numerous  in  India,  and  they  figure  in  the  curious  picto- 
graplis  of  the  two  Americas.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
we  have  here  a  common  idea,  and  one  it  is  impossible 
not  to  recognize.  How  else  can  we  account  for  the 
similarity  of  arrangement  in  the  cup-shaped  sculptui-es 


Fii;.  112. — Ens^raved  rock  from  Massihert  (I-ozcre). 

from  the  tumuli  of  Schleswig-IIolstein  and  those  on 
the  Indian  I'ocks  of  Kainaou,  or  between  those  of 
Algeria  and  of  England? 

In   Brittany   aiid   in   Scotland  these  cup-like  sciilp- 
tur<*s  ai'c  found   on  i-ocks  and   mcidiirs,  on  the  walls  of 


TOMBS.  381 

sepulchral  cliambers,  on  stones  forming  the  sides  of 
histviEns,  accompanied  in  many  instances  with  radi- 
ated circles,  which  do  not,  however,  heli)  us  to  under- 
stand them  better.  In  Scandinavia  they  are  known  as 
Wfen  Stenar.s^  or  elf  stones,  and  the  iidiabitants  come 
and  place  offerings  on  them  for  the  Little  People. 
Accor]ing  to  a  touching  tradition,  these  little  people 
are  souls  awaiting  the  time  of  their  being  clothed  once 
more  in  human  flesh.  In  Belgium  these  strangely 
decorated  stones  are  attributed  to  the  Nutoiis,  dwarfs 
who  are  very  helpful  to  mortals.  In  every  country 
there  is  some  legend  sacred  to  the  sculptured  stones. 

Such  are  the  only  facts  we  have  been  able  to  collect 
respecting  the  religious  feeling  of  prehistoric  races. 
They  are  not  sufficient  to  authorize  any  final  conclu- 
sion on  the  subject.  At  every  turn  we  are  compelled 
to  admit  our  helplessness.  But  yesterday  this  past 
without  a  limit  was  absolutely  unknown  to  us,  and 
to-day  we  are  but  beginning  to  be  a])le  to  obtain  a 
glimpse  into  its  secrets.  We  have  been  the  laborers  of 
the  first  hour,  it  will  be  for  those  who  come  after  us 
to  complete  the  task  we  have  been  able  but  to  begin. 
May  a  genuine  love  of  truth  be  to  them,  as  we  may 
justly  claim  it  has  been  to  us,  the  only  guide. 


indp:x. 


Abbeville,  ii,  14,  77 

Abbutt,  on  discoveries  on  the  Dela- 
ware, 39 

Abruzzi,  the,  162 

Acora  (Peru),  178 

Acorns,  151,  158 

Acrotiri,  island  of,  jjrchistoric  houses 
under  volcanic  ashes,  311 

ACY,  I)",  on  earliest  tools  and  weapons, 
82,  84 

yEgean  Sea,  volcanic  eruption  in, 
308-316 

Africa,  Stone  age  in,  30  ;  human 
bones  in,  45  ;  Lake  dwellings  of, 
165 

Central,  pile  dwellings  in,  145 

North,   dolmens  the  work  of  a 

powerful  race,  196;  see  also  "Al- 
geria," "  Morocco," and  "  Tunisia." 

South,  pottery  and  worked  flints 

i".  34 
Aggetelk  (Hungary),  93 
Ainos,  the,  29,  90,  266 
Alabama,  kitchen-middings  of,  142 
Alaska,  Quaternary  mammals  of,  66 
Algeria,   Stone  age  in,   32  ;  dolmens 
and  cromlechs,  33,  iSo  ;  mammoth 
in,  57  ;  ancient  towers,  171  ;  covered 
avenues,  188  ;  a  field  for  research, 
195  ;  megaliths  of,  196  ;  djedas  of, 
198  ;  dolmens  with  circular  open- 
ings, 21 1;  rich  in  stone  implements, 
234  ;    practice   of    trepanation   in, 
266  ;    funeral   jars   of,    360 ;    cup- 
stones  in,  3S0 


Alignments,  188-194;  of  menhirs  in 
Northern  India  of  present  day,  222  ; 
in  Kermario  group,  224 

Alpes-Maritimes,  enceintes  of,  2S6 

Altamira  cave  (Santander),  122 

Alt-Sammit,  2i6 

Amber  beads,  109  ;  yellow  amber  from 
Baltic  in  tombs  of  Switzerland  and 
France,  246  ;  in  Aurensan  Cave 
(Bagncres-de-Bigorre),  247  ;  amber 
cup  at  Hove,  364 

Amelia  Inland,  142 

America,  Mound  Builders  and  Cliff 
Dwellers  of,  3  ;  copper  implements 
from  mounds  of,  21  ;  antiquity  of, 
38  ;  prehistoric  races,  39  ;  edentate 
and  pachydermatous  mammals,  39  ; 
fortifications,  earthworks,  temples, 
and  sepulchres  of,  40  ;  shell  heaps 
of,  40  ;  stone  weapons  and  pottery 
of  Mound  Builders,  41  ;  cannibalism 
i">  57  I  pachyderms  of,  57  ;  fishing- 
tackle  in,  63-65  ;  absence  of  Chel- 
Icen  implements  in  caves  of,  139  ; 
kitchen-middings  in,  140-142  ;  fish 
food  in,  143  ;  horses  extinct  in,  on 
arrival  of  Spaniards,  157  ;  tumuli 
in,  176  ;  great  numbers  of  worked 
stones  in,  234  ;  instances  of  trepana- 
tion in,  267-270  ;  colossal  earthen 
fortifications  of  Mound  Builders, 
296,  297  ;  brick  buildings  in,  320 ; 
similar  modes  of  sepulture  to  those 
in  Europe,  350 ;  practice  of  em- 
balming in,  364;  cup-stones  in,  380 


383 


384 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


Amiens,  ii,  14 

Amphorre,  330 

Amulets,  see  "  Ornaments." 

Anchors,  77 

Ancress  (Jersey),  216 

Ancerty  Point,  142 

Angami-Nagas,  the,  of  Northern 
India,    222 

Animals  of  Stone  age  extinct  in 
France,  n  ;  edentate  and  pachy- 
dermatous mammals  of  America, 
3g  ;  animals  used  for  food,  47  ; 
plentiful  as  in  South  Africa  at 
present  time,  55  ;  Quaternary  ani- 
mals in  Europe,  56  ;  tiger,  elephant, 
rhinoceros,  and  hippopotamus  in 
British  Isles,  56  ;  great  number  of 
bears,  56,  57  ;  mammoth  from 
North  Europe  to  Greece,  Spain, 
and  Algeria,  57  ;  in  Asia  from 
Altai  Mountains  to  Arctic  Ocean, 
57 ;  in  America,  in  Mexico  and 
Kentucky,  mastodon  in  extreme 
North,  Sonora  and  Columbia,  57  ; 
cervidae  in  Gourdan  Cave  and  at 
Hohlefels  incalculable,  57  ;  horses 
at  Lunel-Viel  and  Solutre,  57  ; 
horse-walls,  58  ;  no  domestic  ani- 
mals, 58  ;  from  Moustier  Cave 
(Dordogne),  mammoth.  Rhinoceros 
tichorhinus,  elk,  horse,  aurochs, 
cave-lion, -hyena,  and -bear;  Elcphas 
antiquus  and  Rhinoceros  Merckii 
died  out,  84  ;  reindeer  appears,  85  ; 
reindeer  characteristic  of  Madeleine 
period,  86  ;  mastodon,  mammoth, 
rhinoceros,  and  cave-lion  at  Hohle- 
fels, 96  ;  at  Ratisbon,  hyenas,  bears, 
and  lions,  96  ;  Ursus  spelcsus  at 
Nabrigas  Cave,  99  ;  seal  in  cave 
near  Perigueux  of  Quaternary 
period,  1 16  ;  Quaternary  animals 
extinct  in  kitchen-middings,  143  ; 
in  Lake  Stations,  156 ;  in  mega- 
lithic  monuments,  222 

of   Neolithic   period  underwent 


complete  transformation,  the  mega- 
ceros,  mammoth,  cave-bear,  and 
large  felidas  died  out,  domestic 
animals,  ox,  sheep,  goat,  and  dog 
appear,  86  ;  no  domestic  animals 
in  Scandinavia,  137  ;  earliest  found 
in  Lake  Stations,  156  ;  Lake  fauna 
of  Switzerland,  156,  157  ;  prog- 
ress of  domestication,  157  ;  mouse, 
rat,  cat,  and  horse  rare  in  pile 
dwellings,  157  ;  Lake  village  of 
Nidau,  wildanimalsrare,  157  ;  horse 
extinct  in  America,  158  ;  domestic 
animals  of  terremarcs,  159  ;  wild 
animals  very  rare,  159;  Neolithic 
animals  in  megalithic  monuments, 
222  ;  boar,  ox,  sheep,  and  goat  in 
Troy,  horse  and  dog  rare,  cat  un- 
known, 329  ;  hippopotamus  still 
known,  331 

Anise,  315 

Ankersiein,  77 

Antas,  of  Portugal,  179 

Apples  at  Lagozza,  151  ;  in  Lake 
Stations,  Switzerland,  158 

Arabia,  cromlechs  in,  181 

Arcelin,  on  Nile  valley  deposits,  30 

on  Boulder  clays  of  Great  Brit- 
ain, 130 

on     manufacturing    centre    at 

Kalabshee,    240 

Arctic  fox,  253 

Ardkellin  Lough,  crannoge  at,  163 

Argent  (Basses-Alpes),  99 

Argenteuil,  188 

Ariege,  92 

Arrayolos  (Portugal),  178 

Arrows,  see  "  Weapons  and  Tools." 

Art  of  prehistoric  man  at  Sydney  and 
Easter  Island,  36-38  ;  staves  of 
office  carved,  113;  seals  and  eels 
carved  on  staff,  116;  geometrical 
designs  on  ivor}',  116;  numer- 
ous engravings  on  stone  and  bone, 
118,  119  ;  art  of  cave-men  at 
its    zenith,     120  ;     only    found    ia 


INDEX. 


385 


South  France,  and  at  Thayngen 
Cave,  120,  121  ;  found  with  Qua- 
ternary animals,  122  ;  carvings  of 
human  figure  rare,  122-125  ;  colored 
designs  from  Pyrenees,  126;  carved 
and  painted  flints,  134  ;  Sweno's 
pillar  (Scotland),  1S5  ;  carved  and 
engraved  dolmens,  207-209  ;  colored 
ornamentation  at  prehistoric  house 
at  Santorin,  311  ;  vases  covered 
with  arabesques  and  garlands  of 
fruit  and  flowers,  312,  315  ;  art  in 
Troy,  337 

Aryan  race,  286,  339,  366,  368 

Asia,  Stone  age  in,  27-30 

Asia  Minor,  gigantic  bones  found  in, 
5  ;  manufacturing  centre  in  Stone 
age,  240 

Assyria,  cromlechs  in,  188 

Atavism,  349 

Atwater,  on  fortifications  at  Old 
Fort  (Kentucky),  299 

Aumede  dolmen,  250 

Aurensan  Cave,  247 

Aurignac  Cave,  47,  131 

Aurochs,  47,  84,  122,  132 

Australia,  probable  appearance  of  man 
before  the  continent  attained  its 
present  configuration,  35  ;  cromlechs 
in,  181  ;  practice  of  trepanation  in, 
277 

Austria,  Lake  Stations  of,  25,  151-153 

Avebury,  cromlechs  of,  182-184,  224 

Avening,  213 

Avenues,  covered,  188-194,  197  ;  see 
also  "  Megalithic  Monuments." 

Avenue  des  Mureaitx,  261 

Avrigny  (Seine-et-Marne),  261 

Aymaras,  the,  of  Bolivia  and  Callao, 

357 
Aztalan  (Wisconsin),  320 
Aztecs,  the,  18,  42 

Balance-stones,  207 
Balearic     Islands,    talayoti   of,    165  ; 
nanetas  of,  170 


Baltic  Sea,  shores  of,  cup-stones  on, 

379 

Baousse-Rousse  caves  (Mentone,  ^9, 
105,  108,  135,  345 

Barbs,  invention  of,  90 

Barley,  151,  158,  315 

Barry  Hill,  vitrified  fort  at,  301 

Barton  Mere,  Lake  Station  of,  154 

Basina,  171 

Baume-Chaude  caves,  249,  258,  275 

Bear,  56,  57,  84,  86,  96,  138 

Bear's  Point,  142 

Beech,  367 

Beech-nuts,  158 

Bekour-Noz,  179 

Belgium,  pile  dwellings  in,  26  ;  can- 
nibalism in,  50  ;  great  number  of 
bears  in  caves  of,  57  ;  harpoons 
from,  65  ;  objects  made  of  reindeer 
antler,  93  ;  pottery  from,  97  ;  pieces 
of  jet  and  ivory  plaques  from  caves, 
107  ;  importance  of  discoveries  in 
caves  of,  233  ;  cup-stones  in,  381 

Bellehaye  (Normandy),  213 

Berbers,  the,  196 

Bertrand,  on  diversity  of  develop- 
ment in  human  races,  20  ;  on  mega- 
liths of  France,  194  ;  on  enceintes 
of  France,  283 

Betula  alba,  150 

Bienne  Lake,  145,  265,  288 

Birch,  367 

Birds,  bones  of,  24  ;  Dinornis  of  New 
Zealand,  35  ;  remains  of  birds  rarer 
than  of  animals,  48  ;  great  numbers 
in  caves  of  France,  and  at  Baousse- 
Rousse,  49  ;  moor-fowl,  partridge, 
wild  duck,  and  domestic  fowl  in 
Gourdan  Cave,  49  ;  thrush,  duck, 
partridge,  and  pigeon  in  Frontal 
Cave,  goose,  swan,  and  grouse  in 
other  caves,  49  ;  birds  from  kitchen- 
middings,  60  ;  of  Scandinavia,  138  ; 
wading  birds  in  Brittany,  140  •, 
ostrich  eggs  at  prehistoric  workshop 
in  Algeria,  234 ;  wild  swan  and  wild 


386 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


goose  in  Troy,  329  ;  also  represen- 
tations of  the  owl,  331  ;  a  large 
bird  in  sepulchral  cave,  351 

Bize  Cave  (Narbonne),  10 

Black  Sea,  dolmens  near,  lyg  ;  dol- 
mens with  circular  openings,  211 

Blanchard,  on  origin  of  New  Zea- 
land, 35 

Boar,  47,  137,  329 

Boats,  68,  70-76.     See  also  "  Canoes. " 

BoETTlCHER,  on  Hill  of  Hissarlik,  342 

Bohemia,  trepanation  in,  265  ;  vitri- 
fied forts  in,  301 

Bone  and  horn  implements,  go  ;  from 
sepulchral  mounds,  93 

Bones  of  animals,  47-49,  55-59 

birds,  24,  35,  48,  49.  60,  140,  329 

fish,  59,  60.      See  also  "  Kitchen- 

middings. " 

human,  36, 45, 49-52,  59.  249-25^) 

Bos  lotigifroiis,  from  Lake  Station  at 
Kew,  155 

Boucher  de  Perthes,  on  contem- 
poraneity of  men  with  extinct  ani- 
mals, 11-15 

Bougon  dolmen,  262 

Bouicheta  Cave,  131 

BouLE,  on  early  mining,  242 

Bou-Merzoug,  197 

Brachycephalic  skull,  324 

Brandenburg,  44 

Brandon  (Suffolk),  flint  quarries  at, 
237,  241,  242 

Brazil,  17,  38,  53 

Bream,  60 

Breton  dolmens,  215 

British  Isles,  fauna  of,  in  Quaternary 
times,  56  ;  bronze  and  iron  objects 
in,  2ig 

Brittany,  dolmens  in,  iSo  ;  menhirs 
in,  185  ;  alignments  in,  194  ;  great 
number  of  menhirs,  194  ;  highest 
development  of  dolmens  in,  214  ; 
ielics  in  dolmens,  214,  215;  hatchets 
engraved  on  megalithic  monuments 
of,  378 


Brixhani,  48 

Broca,  on  hunting  implements,  48 

on  resemblance  between  dolmens 

of  Europe,  Africa,  and  America,  225 
on    trepanation,    258,    268,   274, 

276 
Bronze    age,    the,    ig,    148,    258-260, 

294,  334 

Bronze,  the  first  metal  generally  used, 
64  ;  in  terreniares,  160  ;  weapons  at 
Stonehenge,  184  ;  in  megaliths  of 
France,  218  ;  bronze  beads,  258  ; 
idols,  2g6  ;  bronze  in  Troy,  334 

Bruniquel  Cave,   50,   51,   5g,  g2,  iii, 

351,  354 
Bueeimtm,  141 
Buckland,    Miss,     on    resemblance 

between  relics  from  Cornwall   and 

Mycenrc,  248 
Buenos  Ayres,  earthen  dwellings  near, 

covered  with  carapace  of  glyptodon, 

128,  I2g 
Burghs  of  Scotland,  165,  166 
Burgwallen  of  Germany,  154 
Burial-Mounds    of    Oberea,    36  ;    of 

Otaheite,  36 
Burial  of  chiefs  in  dolmens,  258 
Burial  of   dead  and  cremation,   368- 

374.     See  also  "  Sepulture." 
Burmah,  16 
Burtneek,  Lake,  I3g 
Bury  St.  Edmunds,  Lake  Station  near, 

155 
Buvards,  earliest  habitations,  127,  128 
Bytchiskala,  265 

Cabul,  valley  of,  20I,  226 

Caches,  64,  235 

Ccesars  Camp,  285 

Csesar's  Table,  185 

Cairns,  180,  220,  302 

Caledonians,  the,  364 

California,  fishing-tackle  used  in,  63 

Camp  des  cayettx,  236 

Camper,  on  extinction  of  races,  6 

Camps.     See  ^^ Enceintes." 


INDEX, 


38; 


Canada,  40,  44 

Canche,  140 

Cannibalism,  of  cave-men,  49  ;  prac- 
tised in  Belgium,  50  ;  burnt  human 
bones  in  Reggio  Cave,  51  ;  human 
bones  fractured  in  same  way  as 
animals  for  food,  51  ;  at  Montes- 
quieu-Avantes  a  hearth  covered 
with  human  bones,  52  ;  gnawed 
human  bones  from  Kent's  Hole  of 
Stone  age,  52  ;  similar  finds  in 
Scotland,  Portugal,  Denmark,  the 
Caucasus,  near  Jerusalem,  in  Amer- 
ica, 52,  53  ;  barbarity  of  Mexican 
sacrifices,  54  ;  evidence  of  canni- 
balism in  Trou  d'Argent  Cave,  253 

Canoes,  69,  71-73,  164 

Canstadt  race,  the,  344 

Carl,  on  fossil  bones,  6 

Cafnac,  193,  194,  205,  219,  223 

Caroline  Islands,  pile  dwellings  in,  145 

Carp,  60 

Cartailhac,  on  discoveries  in  Portu- 
gal, 27 

on  similarity  of  implements  at 

different  periods,  88 

on  circular  openings  in  dolmens, 

214 

on  contents  of  dolmen  of  Grailhe, 

215 

on  builders  of  megalithic  monu- 
ments, 224 

on  early  mining,  247 

on  trepanation,  263 

on  citaiiias,  292 

on  the  swastika,  341 

Carved  and  engraved  dolmens,  207-210 

Carved  rocks  at  Sydney  and  Easter 
Island,  36 

Carvings,  see  "  Art  of  prehistoric 
man." 

Castelfranco,  on  pile  dwelling  at 
Lagozza,  150 

Castellet  Cave,  252 

Casie/lieri  oi  Istria,  172 

Castelnuovo  de  Sotto,  162 


Castione,  160 

Castle  Spynie,  vitrified  fort  at,  301, 
302 

Castle  Wellan,  178 

Castrtim  Gredonense,  286 

Cat,  rare  in  pile  dwellings,  157;  un- 
known in  Troy,  329 

Catenoy  (Oise),  camp  of,  284,  285 

Caucasus,  the,  52,  213,  219 

Caussts,  Ics,  246 

Cave-bear,  253,  344  ;  -hyena,  116, 
344  ;  -lion,  96,  116,  253,  sec  also 
"  Animals" 

Cave-men,  see  "  Man,  prehistoric." 

Caves,  remains  of  men  and  animals  in, 
at  San  Ciro  (Palermo),  6  ;  at  Hoxne 
(Suffolk),  9  ;  at  Nabrizas  Cave,  10 ; 
near  Cracow,  24  ;  near  Madrid,  26  ; 
at  Santander,  27  ;  near  Nahr  el 
Kelb,  28  ;  Cave  of  Hercules  (Mo- 
rocco), 33 ;  of  Sureau  (Belgium), 
47  ;  of  Aurignac  (France),  47  ;  at 
Brixham,  48  ;  at  Thayngen,  48  ;  at 
Chaleux,  48  ;  at  Moustier,  48  ;  at 
Gourdan,  48  ;  at  Frontal,  49  ;  caves 
of  P>ance,  49  ;  of  Baousse-Rousse 
(Mentone),  49  ;  of  the  Lesse,  50 ;  of 
Reggio,  50  ;  of  Lourdes,  Gourdan, 
and  Bruniquel,  51;  of  Montesquieu- 
Avantes,  52  ;  of  Kent's  Hole  (Tor- 
quay), and  Cesareda  (Portugal),  52  ; 
of  the  Caucasus,  52  ;  of  Sentenheim 
(Alsace),  56  ;  of  Kiilock,  57  ;  of 
Lherm,  Belgium,  Germany,  Hun- 
gary, and  Gourdan,  57  ;  at  Eyzies, 
and  Nabrigas,  58  ;  of  the  Vezere, 
59  ;  at  Madeleine,  Eyzies,  and 
Bruniquel,  59  ;  Madeleine,  60,  65  ; 
of  South  of  F'rance,  Belgium,  and 
Keyserloch  (Germany),  65 ;  at  Kent's 
Hole,  and  near  Settle  (Yorkshire), 
66  ;  at  Hoxne,  83  ;  at  Marsoulas, 
Picard,  Eyzies,  Laugerie-Basse, 
Bruniquel,  Massat,  the  Madeleine, 
and  Ariege,  92  ;  at  Kent's  Hole, 
93 ;    at  Aggetelk  (Hungary),   93 ; 


388 


PR  EH  IS  TORIC  PEOPLES. 


at  Gourdan,  95  ;  at  Engis,  97  ; 
Frontal,  99  ;  Argent  (Basse-Alpes) 
and  Nabrigas,  99  ;  at  Chaleux, 
103  ;  at  Spy,  105  ;  at  Kent's  Hole, 
107  ;  of  Belgium,  Roquemaure, 
107  ;  of  Baousse-Rousse,  108  ; 
at  Eyzies,  Schussenreid,  Laugerie- 
Basse,  and  Chaffaud,  in  ;  at 
Cottes,  112  ;  of  Perigord  and 
Charante,  114;  at  Thayngen, 
114 ;  of  Chaffaud  (Vienna)  and 
Lortet,  118  ;  at  Marsoulas  and 
Feyjat,  119  ;  at  Thayngen,  120  ;  at 
Goyet  and  Frontal,  121  ;  at  Alta- 
mira  and  Cresswell's  Crags  (Derby- 
shire), 122  ;  at  Madeleine,  123 

absence  of  Chelleen  implements 

in  caves  of  America,  129  ;  caves  in 
Wales  in  Glacial  deposits,  130;  dis- 
tinction between  caves  of  men  and 
those  of  animals,  131  ;  height  of 
caves  of  Massat,  Lherm,  Moustier, 
Bouicheta,  Loubens,  Sauthenay, 
Eyzies,  and  Aurignac,  131  ;  ooze 
in  Montgaudier  Cave,  132  ;  eight 
different  deposits  in  Placard  Cave, 
132  ;  Neolithic  caves  hollowed  out 
of  limestone,  133  ;  carvings  in 
Coizard  Cave,  134  ;  household 
gods  at  Courjonnet  Cave,  134  ; 
sepulchral  caves,  134,  135,  246, 
250,  370 

Cayanes,  98 

Celebes,  pile  dwellings  in,  145 

Cclla,  355 

Celts,  the,  16  r,  195 

Ceraunia,  5,  16-18,  34 

Cervus  mcgaceros,  59 

Cesareda  (Portugal),  52,  255 

Cetati  de  pamentu  of  Roumania,  295, 
296 

Ceylon,  cromlechs  in,  181 

Chaffaud  Cave  (Vienna),  in,  118 

Chalacayo  (Lima),  268 

Chaldeans,  the,  mode  of  sepulture  of, 


Chaleux  Cave,  48,  103,  105,  233,  377 

Challas  Cave  (Savoy),  252 

Chamant,  188 

Chamber's  Island,  269 

Chamois,  47 

Champollion,  on  monuments  of 
Egypt,  2 

CuANTRE,  on  shell  heaps  in  tlie  Cau- 
casus, 140 

on  dolmens  of  South  Russia,  179 

on  ornaments  of  dolmens  in  the 

Caucasus,  219 

Charante,  1 14 

Chassey  Camp,  95,  283,  284 

Chateauvieux,  vitrified  fort  at,  303 

Chauvaux  Cave,  255,  345 

Chelleen  period,  83,  84,  129 

Cherry,  158 

Chierici,  on  bones  from  Reggie 
Cave,  50 

Chierici,  tcrrcina7-e  of,  161 

Chili,  44 

China,  16,  77 

Chincas,  the,  42 

C^^Mc/;^/ of  Algeria,  171 

Chub,  60 

Chulpas  of  Bolivia,  357 

Circular  openings  in  dolmens,  21 1- 
214,  346 

Cissbury,  Camp  at,  288-291,  378 

Cilanias,  2g2 

Cliff-Dwellers,  3,  41 

Closmadeuc,  on  Island  of  Gavr'innis, 
209 

Clothing  of  prehistoric  man,  103  ; 
cloth  first  woven  in  Neolithic  age, 
104  ;  coarse  hempen  cloth  from 
Lake  Stations,  Switzerland,  104 

Cockleshells,  24,  107 

Cod,  60 

Coins,  Gallic,  22  ;  coins  of  later  date 
than  the  monuments  in  which  found, 
220  ;  Roman  coins  at  Mane-er- 
H'roek,  Finistere,  Locmariaker,  in 
Gloucestershire  and  I  )erbyshire,  220; 
silver  coins  of  Caliphs  of  Bagdad  in 


INDEX. 


389 


Coins —  Con  tin  ued. 

Scotch  barrows,  221  ;  Roman  coins 
at  llastedon(Namur),  281;  at  Pont- 
de-Bonn  (Namur),  282  ;  coin  of 
Theodosius  in  cromlech  at  Blen- 
dowo  (Poland),  372 

Coizard  Cave,  134 

CoLANGES,  DE,  on  Sepulture,  350 

Coline  des  Mulcts,  enceintes,  287 

Colombia,  gold  ornaments  in,  338 

Combs  of  reindeer-horn,  63  ;  combs 
from  Lake  Stations,  Switzerland, 
146  ;  bone  comb  from  I^agozza,  150 

Commerce,  or  barter,  birth  of,  244  ; 
shells  taken  long  distances,  244  ; 
also  hatchets,  daggers,  and  nuclei, 
246  ;  coral  and  amber,  246  ;  and 
minerals,  247  ;  rapid  development 
of,  in  Neolithic  times,  247  ;  gold 
cups  from  Cornwall  and  Mykenae  of 
similar  workmanship,  24S  ;  shells, 
mica,  and  obsidian  in  tumuli  of 
Ohio,  from  long  distances,  248  ; 
jade  celts  and  ornaments  in  Amer- 
ica, 248  ;  gold  and  obsidian  in 
island  of  Santorin,  315 

Comox  (Vancouver  Island),  255 

Compans,  188 

Concise,  Lake  Station,  great  number 
of  worked  stones  at,  234  ;  a  manu- 
facturing centre,  237  ;  red  coral 
from  Mediterranean  at,  246 

CoNDER,  on  megaliths  in  Syria,  igg 

Conflans-Sainte-IIonorine,  188,  212 

CoNGREVE,  on  megalithic  monuments 
in  India,  29 

Commana  (Finistere),  207 

Constance,  Lake  of,  148 

Constantine,  353 

Copiapo  (Chili),  255 

Copper,  an  age  of,  21  ;  in  Hungary, 
25,  65  ;  prehistoric  stations  between 
Almeria  and  Carthagena  of  Copper 
age,  294 

Copper  mines.  Lake  Superior,  64 

rings,  358  ;  copper  saw,  314 


Coracles,  70 

Coral,  106,  246 

Coriander,  315 

Cork  float,  68  ;  cork  plug,  71 

Corn,  151,  158,  295 

Cornwall,  184,  213 

Cotes-du-Nord,  194 

Cottes  Cave,  112 

Couedic,  208 

Coups  de  poing,  84 

Courjonnet  Cave,  134 

Covered    avenues,    188-194;    see   also 

"  Megalithic  Monuments." 
Cracow,  caves  near,  24  ;  bone  imple- 
ments,   flints,    and    pottery    found 

near,  233 
Craig  Phcedrick,  vitrified  cairn  at,  302 
Crania,  of  Lake  Stations,  Switzerland, 

254;  see  also  "Trepanation." 
Crannoges  of  Scotland  and  Ireland, 

162-164 
Crecy-sur-Morin  sepulchre,  261 
Cremation,  218,  219,  324,  342,  366  ; 

practised    all    over    Europe,    368 ; 

slowly   abandoned,    369  ;    see    also 

"  Sepulture." 
Cresswell  Crags  (Derbyshire),  122 
Crimea,  24,  225 
Cro-Magnon  caves,  106,  249 
Cromlechs,  180-185  ;  in  Algeria,  195  ; 

still  erected  in  India,  222  ;  see  also 

"  Megalithic  Monuments." 
Crypts,  189,  190,  205 
Cueva  de  Menga I  (Malaga.),  189 
CuviER,  on  antiquity  of  man,  12 
Cypress,  367 
Cyprina  Islandica,  108 
Cyprus,  cromlechs  in,  186 

Dab,  60 

Dahomey,  pile  dwellings  in,  145 

Dallas  (Illinois),  269 

Dampont  (Dieppe),  262 

Danubian  Provinces,  early  civilization 

in,  25 
Delaware,  the,  alluvial  deposits  of,  39 


390 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES, 


Denmark,   kitchen-middings  of,   24  ; 

cannibalism  in,  52  ;  cromlechs  in, 
180  ;  covered  avenues  in  and  tombs 
of,  188  ;  rich  in  flint  implements, 
234  ;  trepanation  in,  266  ;  vitrified 
forts  of,  301 

Dessignac,  189 

Devezes,  258 

Dinornis,  35 

Discs,  107  ;  of  lava,  314 ;  see  also 
"Whorls." 

Djedas,  of  Algeria,  198 

Dog,  86,  137,  156,  329 

Dol  Varchaiit,  208 

DOLGADO,  on  bones  of  the  dead 
colored  red,  348 

Dolmens,  rites  in  honor  of,  18  ;  in 
India,  30,  33  ;  human  bones  in,  52  ; 
types  of  implements  in,  88  ;  general 
description  of,  177-180;  in  Algeria, 
195-198  ;  in  Syria,  199  ;  in  India, 
2CO  ;  dolmens  all  tombs,  202  ;  most 
numerous  in  France,  204  ;  carved 
and  engraved,  207  ;  superstitious 
origin  of,  212  ;  pierced  with  circular 
openings,  211-214  ;  human  and  in- 
dustrial remainsin, 214-221  ;  variety 
of  construction,  226  ;  used  for  burial 
of  chiefs,  258  ;  circular  openings  in, 
346  ;  tombs,  355  ;  see  also  "  Mega- 
lithic  Monuments." 

Domestic  animals,  49,  58,  86,  156-159 

Donegal,  163,  164 

Dolichocephalic  skulls,  262,  265,  272, 

324 
Du  Chatellif.k,  on  enceinte  a.t  Ros- 

meur,  283 
Duck,  49,  138 
DUCROS,    on     Palaeolithic    origin    of 

Solutreen  remains,  349 
DUGDALE,  on  flint  hatchets,  7 
DupoNT,  discoveries  by,  94,  97,  345 
Durfort  Cave,  87,  88 
Duruthy  Cave  (Sordes),  345 
Dyke  of  Zeedyck,  282 
Dykes  in  England,  288 


Earliest  habitations,  127,  128,  135 

Earthern  ramparts  at  Willem  and 
Houlem,  282,  283 

Earthworks  in  America,  40  ;  in  North 
America,  296-300 

Easter  Island,  bust  statues,  engraved 
rocks,  and  human  bones  in,  36-38 

Edentate  mammals  of  America,  39 

Eels,  116 

Egyptian  monuments,  21  ;  worked 
flints  in,  31  ;  cromlechs  in,  188 

Elephant,  47,  56,  156 

Elephas  antiqtius,  84 

El/en  Stenars,  381 

Elk,  84 

Embalming,  364 

Enceintes,  195,  197,  198,  224  ;  a  gen- 
eral term  for  camps  and  fortifica- 
tions, 280  ;  ^Neolithic  examples  at 
Hastedon  (Namur),  280,  281  ;  at 
Pont-de-Bonn  (Namur),  282  ;  in 
Limburg  and  Liege,  282,  283  ; 
numerous  in  France,  283  ;  in  the 
Vosges  Mountains  and  at  Rosmeur 
(Finistere),  283  ;  at  Chassey  (Saone- 
et-Loire),  284  ;  at  Catenoy  (Oise), 
285  ;  Castrum  Gredottense,  a  Neo- 
lithic station,  286;  pile  dwellings 
and  terremares  fortified,  ^87  ;  for- 
tifications of  Great  Britain,  288  ; 
camp  at  Cissbury,  288-291  ;  German 
fortifications,  291  ;  at  Potzrow  and 
Zahnow  on  piles,  292  ;  mounds 
lietween  Thorn  and  the  Baltic,  292  ; 
citanias  in  Portugal,  292  ;  fortified 
town  at  Mouinho-da-Moura,  292  ; 
prehistoric  stations  of  Stone,  Copper, 
and  Bronze,  ages,  294  ;  cetati  de 
pamentu  of  Roumania,  295,  296 

colossal  earthworks  of  America, 

296  ;  Mound-Builders,  297  ;  Fort 
Hill,  297  ;  Newark,  29S,  299  ;  Lib- 
erty (Ohio),  299  ;  unique  intrench- 
ments  at  Old  Fort  (Kentucky),  at 
Juigalpa  (Nicaragua),  300 

— —  vitrified  forts,  300  ;  in  Scotland, 


INDEX. 


39T 


Enceintes —  Continued. 

Bohemia,  France,  Denmark,  and 
Norway,  301  ;  the  most  celebrated 
at  Barry  Hill  and  Castle  Spynie 
(Invernesshire),  Top-O-Noth  (Aber- 
deen), 301  ;  vitrified  cairns  in  Ork- 
ney Islands,  Craig  Pha'drick  and 
Ord  Hill  of  Kissock  (Moray  Firth), 
302,  303  ;  forts  at  Chateauvieux, 
303  ;  and  Ribandelle,  304  ;  probably 
not  prehistoric,  305  ;  processes  of 
vitrification,  305-308  ;  vitrified 
walls  at  Hissarlik,  320  ;  sarcophagi 
or  enceintes  near  Constantine,  353 

Engis  Cave,  97,  98 

England,  pile-dwellings  in,  26  ;  har- 
poons in,  65  ;  canoe  in  Devonshire, 
71  ;  tools  of  Chelleen  type  in,  83  ; 
absence  of  Paljeolithic  pottery  in, 
100  ;  ancient  pottery  in  North  of, 

142  ;  Lake  Stations  in,  155  ;  tumuli 
enclose  tombs,  175  ;  alignments  of, 
lead  to  cromlechs,  183  ;  alignments, 
193  ;  crypts,  205  ;  circular  openings 
in  dolmens,  213  ;  contents  of,  217  ; 
discontinued  in,  223  ;  antiquity  of, 
224  ;  cup-stones  in,  379 

Engraving,    see    "Art    of    prehistoric 

man." 
Entre- Roches  (Angouleme),  263 
Erdeven,  194 
Esquimaux,  the,  22,  50 
Esse  nam,  188 
Esthonians,  the,  195 
Europe,   Stone  age  in,  9-14,   24-27  ; 

animal   life   in,    56 ;    fish   food   in, 

143  ;  iron  rare  in  prehistoric  times 
of,  219  ;  cremation  practised  all 
over,  368 

Evans,  on  shell  heaps  in  England,  140 
Eyzies  Cave,  58,  59,  92,  lit,  131 

Faidherbe,  on  division  of  Africa,  30 

on  dolmens  of  Algeria,  180 

Feasts  of  death,  375 
Feder-See.  68 


Feraud,  on  megaliths  of  Algeria,  197 

Fergusson,  on  megalithic  architec- 
ture, 203 

Ferns,  151 

Feyjet  (Dordogne),  119 

Finistere,  188,  202,  207,  210,  218, 
220,  283 

FiNLAY,  researches  in  Greece  by,  27 

Finns,  the,  195 

Fire,  prehistoric  use  of,  proved,  loi  ; 
used  in  mining,  241  ;  surjirising 
skill  in  management  of,  306 

Fish,  skeletons  of,  and  shells  of 
oysters  and  cockles  in  kitchen- 
middings,  24  ;  shell  heaps  in  Ameri- 
ca, 40  :  fresh-water  and  marine  fish 
used  as  food,  59  ;  in  French  caves 
bones  of  the  jack,  carp,  bream, 
chub,  trout,  and  tench,  60 ;  from 
Lake  Stations,  Switzerland,  remains 
of  moUusca,  turtle,  and  goldfish,  60  ; 
Scandinavians  caught  mackerel, 
dal),  and  herring,  60  ;  in  kitchen- 
midding  near  the  Oka  (Nijni-Nov- 
gorod)  remains  of  salt-water  niol- 
lusca,  139  ;  similar  remains  all  over 
Europe,  140;  shell  heap,  St.  Simon's 
Island  (Georgia),  of  oyster  shells, 
141  ;  many  others  similar,  142,  143 

Fishing-tackle,  the  earliest  hooks  of 
bone  or  wood,  60  ;  of  teeth  of  ani- 
mals, 61  ;  flint  fish-hooks,  62  ;  also 
of  horn  and  boars'  tusks,  62  ; 
stone  hooks  rare  in  America,  63  ; 
bone  the  most  ancient  there,  63  ;  a 
fish-hook  manufactory  on  Santa 
Cruz  Island,  shells  used  by  Cali- 
fornians,  63  ;  bronze  hooks,  64  ;  a 
few  of  copper  in  America,  gold 
hooks  more  numerous  in  New 
Granada,  64,  65 

harpoons    of   bone   in    France, 

Belgium,  Germany,  England, 
Switzerland,  and  Scandinavia,  65, 
66  ;  in  Alaska,  one  found  beside  most 
ancient  mammals  of  America,  66 


392 


PKEIIISTOKJC  PEOPLES. 


Fisliing-nets  of  hemp  from  Lake  Sta- 
tions of  Switzerland,  67,  68  ;  weights 
of  stone, and  floats  of  wood  and  cork 
from  Lake  Stations  of  the  Stone 
age,  68 

Flax,  at  Lagozza,  151 

Flints,  see  "  Weapons  and  Tools." 

Floquet,  on  dolmens  as  tombs,  202 

Florida,  kitchen-middings  in,  142 

Flute,  III,  112 

Fomii  di  Calmne  of  Italy,  162 

FoNDOucE,  on  megaliths  as  the  pro- 
duce of  progressive  civilization, 
225  ;  by  various  races,  but  all  of 
one  type,  227 

Fontabert  Cave,  132 

Food  of  prehistoric  man  chiefly  meat, 

47  ;  bones  split  open  by  cave-men, 

48  ;  large  mammals  preferred, 
rodents  also  eaten,  48  ;  bones  of 
birds  rarer,  48  ;  remains  of  birds  in 
Gourdan  Cave,  49  ;  fifty-one  species 
of  birds  in  caves  of  France,  and 
great  numbers  at  Baousse-Rousse', 

49  ;  brains  and  marrow  dainties, 
49  {see  "  Cannibalism  ") ;  horseflesh 
favorite  diet  at  Solutre,  58  ;  in 
caves  of  Vezcre,  Madeleine,  Eyzit-s, 
and  Bruniquel  bones  of  the  jack, 
carp,  liream,  chub,  trout,  and  tench, 
60 ;  Lake  Stations  (Switzerland), 
all  kinds  of  fish,  60 ;  salt-water  fish 
from  kitchen-middings,  60  ;  mam- 
mals, birds,  and  fish  from  kitchen- 
middings,  1 38  ;  fish  food  in  Brittany, 
140  ;  in  England  and  America,  143  ; 
Lagozza  a  vegetarian  settlement, 
151  ;  domestic  animals  in  Lake 
Stations,  156  ;  stag  and  ox  most 
numerous,  157  ;  corn,  millet,  peas, 
nuts,  plums,  and  other  fruit  from 
pile  dwellings,  158  ;  from  Cortaillod 
barley,  cherry-stones,  acorns,  and 
beech-nuts,  158  ;  water-chestnuts, 
from  Laybach,  158  ;  stores  of 
grain  in  fortified  camps  of  Spain, 


295  ;  stores  of  millet  in  cetati  de 
pamentJi  of  Roumania,  296  ;  barley, 
millet,  lentils,  peas,  coriander,  and 
anise  in  island  of  Santorin,  315  ; 
fish,  moUusca  and  cereals  chief  food 
in  Troy,  329 

Fort  Hill,  297,  298 

Fortifications,  see  "  Enceintes." 

Fosses  de  Trajan,  295 

Foundry  of  Larnaud,  64 

Fowl,  domestic,  49 

Fox,  47 

Fraas,  on  pottery  found  with  remains 
of  giant  mammals,  96 

France,  caves  of,  49  ;  harpoons  found 
in,  65  ;  caves  of,  90  ;  in  caves  of 
South  of,  needles  with  eyes,  barbed 
arrows,  and  stilettos  of  deer  antler, 
92  ;  ornaments  of  bright  colored 
shells  in  caves  of,  107  ;  car\ed  and 
engraved  stones  and  bones  of,  120  ; 
Lake  Stations  of,  155,  156;  few 
cromlechs  in,  180 ;  megaliths  in, 
194  ;  crypts  in,  205  ;  dolmens  with 
circular  openings,  211-213  ;  con- 
tents of  dolmens,  216,  217  ;  gold 
ornaments  in,  217  ;  megaliths  dis- 
continued, 223  ;  antiquity  of,  224  ; 
prehistoric  workshops  of,  238 ; 
implements  of  rocks  foreign  to  the 
country,  246 ;  trepanation  in,  25S- 
264  ;  enceintesm,  280-283  I  vitrified 
forts  in,  301  ;  cup-stones  in,  379 

Frere,  on  worked  flints,  8,  9 

Friedel,  on  Ankei'stein,  77 

Frontal  Cave,  49,  98,  121,  244,  354, 

375 

Funen,  island  of,  64 

Funeral  rites,  53  ;  similar  in  all  coun- 
tries, 228 ;  trepanation  a  rite,  269, 
270  ;  possible  rites,  345,  346  ;  bones 
of  adults  colored  red,  347-349 ; 
funeral  customs  and  feasts,  375  ; 
see  also  "  Cremation  "  and  "  Sepul- 
ture." 

vases,  220,  295,  360 


mDEX. 


393 


Fusaioles,  i6o,  322,  324,  326,  339 ; 
see  also  ' '  Whorls. " 

Galgals  of  Brittany,  180 

Galles,  on  hatchets  from  dolmens  of 

Brittany,  214 
Game  played  with  knuckle  bones,  328 
Gang  Graben,  of  Denmark,  188 
Gangraben,  of  Germany,  355 
Garenne  de  Verneuil  (Marne),  354 
Gauiiry,     on      hatchets      from     the 

Somme,  15 
Gavr'innis,  Isle  of,  iqo,  205,  209 
Gendron  Cave,  345,  347 
Germany,   remains  of  Ijcars  in  caves 
of,    57  ;    harpoons   found    in,    65  ; 
pottery  in  caves  of,   96  ;    fortifica- 
tions in,  291  ;  burial  and  cremation 

in,  372 
Giant  mammals,  srt-  "  Animals." 
Gibraltar,  255 
Gironde,  department  of,  subterranean 

storing-places  for  grain,  158 
Glacial    epoch  in    England,  71,   130, 

131 
Glass  bowls,  169 
Glutton,  253 
Glyptodon,  39,  128 
(;oat,  47,  86,  156,  217,  329 
Gods,  134,  322 
Gold  buckle  at  Aspatria  (Cumberland), 

220 

chains  in  dolmen  at  Finistere, 

and  Leys  dolmen  (Inverness),  218 

cups  from   Cornwall,    Mycenne, 

and  Troy,  248,  337 

diadem  from  Troy,  337 

fish-hooks,  64-66 

necklaces  and  other  gold  orna- 
ments from  New  Grange  (Ireland) 
and  dolmens  of  France,  218 

ornaments    at    Ojcow,     25 ;    in 

great  variety  from  Troy,  337,  338 

plate,  and  gold  olives  from  dol- 
mens of  France,  217 
■ rings  at  Santorin,  314 


Goldfish,  60 

Goose,  49,  138,  329 

Gourdan  Cave,  48,  51,  57,  95,  251 

Goyet  Cave  (Belgium),  iii,  114,  121 

Grain,  stores  of,  158,  295 

Grand  Pressigny,  235,  246,  2g6 

Great  Britain,  age  of  deposits  in  caves 

of,    130 ;    highest   development    of 

cromlechs  in,  182;  fortifications  in, 

288 
Grez,  233,  286 

Grindstone  for  crushing  grain,  51,  296 
Grottes-di-s-FJes,  191 
Grouse,  49 
Guanches,  the,  364 
Gubernaculum,  77 
Guerin  mound  (Paris),  260 
Guisseny    tumulus    (Finistere),     259, 

272 

Ilallstadt  (Bohemia),  necropolis  of, 
362,  372 

Hallstadtian  period,  373 

Hamy,  on  scarcity  of  human  remains 
in  Palaeolithic  caves  and  mounds, 
231 

on  wounds  in  bones,  249 

Hare,  47,  48 

Harpoons,  65-67 

Ilartmannsweiller  Kopf  (Alsace)  en- 
ceinte of,  301 

Ilastedon  (Namur),  280,  281 

Hatchet,  the,  a  sacred  symbol,  378  ; 
see  also  "  Ceratima." 

Hatchets,  see  "  Weapons  and  Tools." 

Havelse,  137 

Haxthausen,  on  kiirganes,  of  Russia, 

195 
Hearths,  loi,  136,  284,  349 
Heidenmaner   of    Saint    Odila   (Iler- 

meskiel),  291 
Heilbig,  on  terremarecolli,  161 
Hellstone  (Dorsetshire),  178 
Helvetians,  proto-,  149 
Hemp  used  for  fishing-nets,  67  ;   for 

coarsely-woven  cloth,  104 


394 


PKEIIISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


Hercules,  caves  of,  33 
IIkrouotus,  on  pile  dwellings,  145 
Herring,  60 

Hindoo  Koosh  Mountains,  2or 
Hippopotamus,  g,  II,  56,  86,  15^).  331 
Hissarlik,  Hill  of,  317-338 
HoARE,  on  earliest  habitations,  127 

on  remains  of  funeral  feasts,  375 

Hohlefels,  57,  <^6 

Holderness  (Yorkshire)  Lake  Station, 

154 
Holed  stones,  213 
Homicidal   struggles,   commencement 

of,  59 
Ilordcuiu  hcxastichuvi,  151 
Horses,  47,  58,  132,  157,  158,  329 
Horse-walls,  58 
Hove,  364 
Hoxne,  9,  83,  237 
Human  sacrifices,  51,  54,  376 
Hungary  peopled  in  Neolithic  times, 

25  ;   bears   in   caves   of,  57  ;   bone 

daggers    and    amulets,    93  ;    Lake 

Stations  of,  15  r 
Hiinengrdber  of  Germany,  170,  I91 
Hunting  implements,  48 
Hyena,  84,  96,  116,  344 

Iberians,  the,  286,  361,  364 

Iceland,  45 

Idols,  296,  322 

Incas,  the,  366 

India,  Stone  age  in,  29 ;  Chelleen 
tools  and  weapons  in,  83  ;  great 
number  of  megaliths  in,  and  legends 
connected  with  them,  200,  201  ; 
dolmens  with  circular  openings, 
211-213  ;  megalithic  monuments 
still  erected  in,  222  ;  cup-stones  in, 

379 
Industrial  arts,  progress  in,  86 

centres,  see  "  Workshops," 

Inscriptions,  cuneiform,  2 

in  old  Irish  cipher  on  megaliths, 

222,  341 
Insects,  367 


Ireland,  pile  dwellings  in,  26  ;  a  stone 
hammer  in  head  of  a  Cervus  viega- 
ceros,  58  ;  bronze  fish-hooks,  64  ; 
boats  from  bogs,  70  ;  crannoges  in, 
162-164  ;  round  towers  of,  167  ; 
cromlechs  of,  184,  185  ;  crypts  in, 
205  ;  iron  knives  and  rings,  bone 
needles,  copper  pins,  and  glass  and 
amber  beads  in  Cairn  of  Dowth, 
120;  great  number  of  bone  imple- 
ments in  cairn  near  Lough  Crew, 
120  ;  rich  in  flint  implements,  324 

Irish  eiiiher  writing  on  megalithic 
moiuiments,  222,  341 

Iron  age,  19,  377 

found  at  Carnac,  and  in  Mega- 
liths of  England  and  Scotland, 
219  ;  rarer  than  Ijronze  in  Europe 
and  America,  219 ;  iron  knives, 
220 

Istria,  165,  172 

IsSFX,  on  sepulture  in  Italy,  346 

Italy,  flint  weapons  in,  26  ;  pottery  in, 
97  ;  Lake  Stations  of,  104,  149- 
151  ;  terremares  of,  1 59-162  ;  great 
number  of  truddhi  in,  171  ;  crom- 
lechs in,  180  ;  bones  of  the  dead 
colored  red  in  Neolithic  times,  347, 
348  ;  funeral  pits  in,  356 ;  cup- 
stones  in,  379 

Jack,  60 

Jade,  hatchets  and  hammers,  8t  ; 
from  pile  dwellings,  146  ;  celts  and 
ornaments  in  America,  248 

Japan,  use  of  stone  implements  in, 
22,  29  ;  dolmens  in,  179  ;  trepana- 
tion in,  266  ;  sepulture  in  decorated 
vases,  362 

Japanese,  the,  17 

Java,  pile  dwellings,  145 

Javelins,  87 

Jellalabad,  201 

Jersey,  contents  of  dolmens  in,  216 

Jet,  107,  109 

Jeuilly,  263 


INDEX. 


395 


Joigny,  127 

JOLY,    on    contemporaneity   of    man 

with  cave-bear,  10 
on    human    'nones,    pottery,   anil 

skeleton     of      Ursits      spehtus     in 

Nabrigas  cave,  99 
JoUANNET,    on    stone    weapons    near 

Perifiord,  g 
Juigalpa  (Nicaragua),  300 
Jura  Mountains,  pile  dwellings  in,  155 

Kabyles,  the,  196,  277 

Kanu-na  haba,  I95 

Kent's  Hole  (Torquay)  52,  66,  93, 
105,  107 

Kern,  301 

Kew,  155 

Keyserloch,  65 

Khassias,  the,  222 

Kherson,  181 

Kistvaens,  175,  220,  381 

Kitchen-middings,  in  Denmark,  24  ; 
in  Florida,  53  ;  in  Scandinavia,  54  ; 
in  Long  Island,  63 ;  on  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  Coasts,  94  ;  in  Scandi- 
navia, 136,  138;  in  France,  139; 
at  Canche,  140  ;  in  America,  140- 
143  ;  Quaternary  animals  disap- 
peared in,  and  similarity  of,  in 
Europe  and  America,  143 

Kit's  Cotty  Hon  St-,  213 

Klementz,  on  Valley  of  tlie  Yenesei, 
28 

Kliloch,  57 

Kurganes,  the,  iSi,  195,  3^8 

La  Justice  (near  Paris),  188 

La  Marmora,  on  age  of  nnrhags,  169 

La  Mouline  (Charante),  201 

La  AT  tie  la  de  C/^^r/j' (Maeztrago),  294 

La  Perouse,  on  sculptures  of  Faster 

Island,  36 
Lagozza,  94,  104,  150 
Lake  Bienne,  145,  265,  288 

Burtneek,  139 

= Constance,  145,  148 


Lake  Geneva,  145 

Maggiore,  149 

Salpi,  149 

Stations  of  Austria  and  Hun- 
gary, 25  ;  of  Switzerland,  25  ;  of 
Belgium,  26  ;  fish  in  stations  in 
Switzerland,  60  ;  bone  fish-hooks 
at  Wangen,  Mooseedorf,  and  St. 
Aubin,  62  ;  bronze  hooks  in  Switzer- 
land, 64  ;  Lake  Stations  of  Switzer- 
land from  Stone  age  to  time  of 
Romans,  67  ;  fishing  in,  68  ;  boats 
in,  74  ;  first  discovered,  200  ;  sta- 
tions in  Switzerland,  145 ;  pile 
dwellings  still  used,  145  ;  of  Swit- 
zerland of  three  periods,  145  ;  gen- 
eral description,  146-149 ;  local 
names  for,  147  ;  great  numbers  at 
Wangen  and  at  Robenhausen,  148  ; 
stations  of  Italy,  149  ;  at  Lagozza, 
150;  a  vegetarian  station,  151  ;  of 
Austria  and  Hungary,  151  ;  near 
Laybach,  152  ;  construction  of 
Lake  Stations  of  Pomerania,  153  ; 
station  in  Scotland,  154  ;  in  Eng- 
land at  Holderncss,  Thetford,  Bar- 
ton Mere,  near  Bury  St.  Edmunds, 
near  Kew,  and  in  London,  154,  155  ; 
in  France  at  Vatan,  the  Jura  Moun- 
tains, Pyrenean  valleys,  and  in  the 
department  of  Landes,  155  ;  in 
Bourget  Lake,  Saint-Dos,  and  Lake 
Paladru,  more  recent  stations,  156  ; 
Lake  fauna,  156  ;  in  Lake  village 
of  Nidau  domestic  animals  more 
general  and  wild  animals  rarer, 
157  ;  Lake  dwellings  probable  in 
Asia  and  Africa,  165  ;  amber  from 
Baltic  in  Lake  dwellings  of  Switzer- 
land, 246  ;  village  of  Lake  Bienne  of 
Stone  age  fortified,  288  :  sepulchral 
chest  Lake  Station  of  Auvernier 
(Switzerland),  360 

Zurich,  144 

Lares  penates,  134,  377  ;  see  also, 
"Idols." 


396 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


Lamaud,  64 

I.augerie-Basse,  92,  III 

Laybach,  1 51-153 

Lechevalier,  on  site  of  Troy,  318 

Lechs  of  Brittany,  185 

Lenormant,  on  use  oi  specchie,  171 

Lentils,  315 

Les  Gausses,  369 

Lesse,  caves  of  the,  50 

Lestridiou  (Kinistcre),  192 

Lewis,  on   fortifications  at   Old    Fort 

(Kentucky),  299 
Lherm  Cave  (Belgium),  57,  131 
L'lIoiHiite  Mori  Cave,  250,  258,  272, 

273,  354,  375 
Liberty  (Ohio),  299 
Liege,  caves,  jo 

enceintes,  283 

Liniburg,  282 

Limpets,  108 

Lion,  84,  96,  156 

Li/tle  People,  381 

Littoritia  liitorea,  136 

Livingstone,  on  South  Africa,  31,  55 

Livres  de  betirre,  246 

Lizieres,  262 

Loaves  of  bread,  159 

Loch  Stemster  (Westmoreland),  182 

Locmariaker  (Brittany),  185 

Lombardy,    Lake   Stations    of,    149  ; 

terremares  of,  159 
London,  7,  155 
Long    Barrows,    190 ;    at    Moustoir- 

Carnac,  205  ;   West   Kenret,  216  ; 

nearly  all  buried  in  long  barrows 

had  met  with  a  violent  death,  254  ; 

bones  and  flints  in,   346  ;    remains 

of  funeral  feasts  in,  375 
Long  Meg  and  her  daughters,  182 
Long-Nick  Branch,  142 
LoNGPERlER,  on  ancient  vases,  316 
on  hatchets  as  sacred  symbols, 

378 
Lortet,  118 
Loubens  Cave,  131 
Lourdes  Caves,  51 


Lozcre,  88,  99,  215,  218,  246,  257,  258, 

369,  370 

Lubbock,  on  prehistoric  sculpture,  38 

on  worked  flints  from  Chili  and 

New  Zealand,  44 

on  absence  in  England  of  Palaeo- 
lithic pottery,  100 

on  settlement  at  Havelso,  137 

on  hiirghs  of  Scotland,  165,  166 

on  ancient  fortifications  of  (ircat 

liritain,  288 

Lund,  on  scarcity  of  human  bones  in 
caves  of  Brazil,  231 

on  crania  pierced  l)y  a  tool,  255 

Museum  of,  62 

University  of,  59 

LvKlJ,,  on  flints  from  bed  of  Somme, 

14 
on  shell  heaps  of  Georgia,  141 

Mackerel,  60 

Madeleine  Cave,  59,  60,  65,  85,  92,  93, 

123 

period  or  type,  85,  132,  351 

Madisonville  (Ohio),  255 

Madras,  201 

Madrid,  caves  near,  26 

Magnolia,  367 

Mahudel,  on  worked  stones,  7 

Malabar,  iron  used  in,  219  ;  mode  of 

sepulture  in,  361 
Mammals,  see  "  Animals." 
Mammoth,  57,  84,  86,  96,  253, 344,  377 
Mamoas,  or  viaminhas,  of  Portugal, 

175 
Man,  prehistoric,  7  ;  flints  found  at 
Hoxne,  8,  9  ;  contemporaneity  of 
man  with  extinct  mammals  doubted, 
7-13  ;  established  by  Boucher  de 
Perthes,  and  confirmed  by  Falconer 
and  others,  14,  15  ;  diversity  of  de- 
velopment in  human  races,  20  ;  im- 
plements similar  to  prehistoric  still 
used  by  uncivilized  races,  22,  23  ; 
extreme  North  peopled,  24  ;  kitchen- 
middings  in  Denmark,  24  ;  discov* 


WDEX. 


397 


Man,  prehistoric — Continued. 

eries  in  Poland,  Russia,  and  Austria 
confirm  the  great  antiquity  of  man, 
25  ;  in  Hungary  of  Neolithic  times, 
Lake  Stations  of  extinct  races,  25  ; 
pile  dwellings  in  France,  Italy, 
Germany,  Ireland,  England,  and 
Belgium,  26  ;  signs  of  man  in  South 
of  Europe,  26,  27  ;  Stone  age  in 
Europe,  27  ;  in  Siberia  and  Pales- 
tine, 28  ;  in  Japan,  Egypt,  Isle  of 
Melas,  and  India,  29,  30  ;  worked 
flints  ill  North  and  South  Africa, 
30-34  ;  ruins  in  the  Transvaal,  35  ; 
man  appeared  in  all  countries  about 
the  same  time,  35  ;  worked  flints 
with  bones  of  Dinornis  in  New 
Zealand,  35  ;  megalith  and  trilithon 
at  Tonga-Taboo,  pyramid  in  Ota- 
heite,  36  ;  bust  statues  and  tools  of 
obsidian  in  Easter  Island,  36-38  ; 
man  contemporary  with  edentate 
and  pachydermatous  mammals  in 
America,  39 

huge  earthworks  of,  throughout 

North  America,  40 ;  Mound- 
Builders,  41  ;  pueblos^  41  ;  Cliff 
Dwellers,  41  ;  succeeded  by  Toltecs, 
Aztecs,  Chibcas,  and  Peruvians,  42  ; 
in  every  part  of  the  world,  worked 
flints  and  megalithic  monuments, 
43~45  i  gradual  development  of 
man,  46 

■ food  of,  chiefly  animal,  47  ;  the 

horse,  47  ;  large  mammals  and 
rodents,  48  ;  birds  rarer,  48,  49  ; 
cannibalism,  49-53  ;  fish  food,  59, 
60  ;  ancient  Scandinavians  deep-sea 
fishermen.  Go,  69 

early  use   of  boats  by,  69-76  ; 

gradual  use  of  oars,  mast,  rudder, 
and  anchor,  76,  77,  see  also  "  Fish- 
ing-tackle," and  "  Boats." 

first  weapon  of  a  knotty  branch, 

79  ;  instinct  taught,  80,  8r  ;  most 
ancient  tools,  81  ;  gradual  develop- 


ment of  skill  and  ingenuity,  82,  83  ; 
Chelle'en  period,  83,  84  ;  Mousterien 
period,  84  {  Solutrt'en  period,  85  ; 
Madeleine  period,  85 

in  Neolithic  period  abandoned  a 

nomad  for  a  sedentary  life,  ceased 
to  be  a  hunter,  became  an  agricul- 
turist and  shepherd,  86  ;  metals  still 
unknown,  but  stone  polished,  86  ; 
liandles  to  tools,  83  ;  use  of  bone 
and  horn,  90 ;  needles  with  eyes 
and  barbed  arrows,  92;  unexpected 
civilization  of  Neolithic  times,  94  ; 
earthenware  spoons,  94  ;  vases,  98  ; 
use  of  fire  proved  by  baked  pottery, 
10 1  ;  family  hearths,  loi  ;  Lake 
Stations  of  Italy,  cultivated  hemp, 
104  ;  at  Wangen  and  Robenhausen 
coarsely  woven  cloth,  104  ;  in  Peri- 
gord  caves  needles  too  fine  to  sew 
skins,  104  ;  tatooing,  104,  105  ;  use 
of  ornaments  of  teeth  or  jet,  106  ; 
shells,  ivory,  amber,  crystal,  coral, 
and  human  bones,  106-110;  whistles 
and  flutes,  III,  112;  carved  and 
engraved  bone  for  staves  of  office, 
1 1 3-1 1 6  ;  hilt  of  dagger  and  other 
objects,  116,  118  ;  art  of  cave-men 
at  its  zenith,  120  ;  engraving  on 
wood,  123  ;  colored  designs,  126 

in  caves  of  Great  Britain  before 

Glacial  epoch,  130  ;  progress  in 
Neolithic  times,  133  ;  huts  of  clay, 
and  tents  of  skins,  135  ;  intelligence 
of  primeval  man,  136 

of  Scandinavia  renounced  no- 
madic life,  138  ;  metals  unknown  to 
them,  138  ;  man  of  kitchen-middings 
fixed  abodes,  144  ;  proto-Helvetians 
well-developed  men,  149  ;  pastoral 
life,  157;  agriculturists,  158;  tcrre- 
marecolli  oi  Italy  agriculturists,  159 ; 
of  uncertain  origin,  160,  161  ;  emi- 
gration of  races,  161  ;  crannoges  in 
Ireland,  162  ;  huts  in  Ireland  under 
peat  164;  construction  of  crannoges 


39^ 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


Man,  prehistoric — Continued. 
in  Scotland,  164  ;  of  Stone  age,  164  ; 
probably  occupied  by  successive 
generations,  165  ;  burghs  of  Scot- 
land, 165;  Picts'  houses,  166;  nur- 
/z(/^'j  of  Sardinia,  167,  168;  talayoti 
of  Minorca,  170;  tianelasoi  Balearic 
Isles,  170;  iruddhi  and  speeehie  oi 
Italy,  171  ;  castellieri  of  Istria,  172  ; 
progress  of  civilization,  172 

builders  of  megalitliic  monu- 
ments, 174  ;  human  bones  at  Stone- 
henge,  184  ;  at  Moen,  igi  ;  at 
Mureaux^  192  ;  vanished  races  of 
Yenesei,  195  ;  powerful  races  in 
North  Africa,  196  ;  skeletons  at  La 
Mouline,  2or  ;  at  Maupas,  202  ; 
earliest  inhabitants  of  tombs  re- 
moved, 203  ;  intelligent  workmen, 
206  ;  skulls  at  Vaurcal,  216  ;  rich 
offerings  in  tombs,  217,  218  ;  prog- 
ress in  industrial  arts,  220  ;  in  archi- 
tecture, 225  ;  similarity  of  aspira- 
tions and  powers  in  all  men,  225  ; 
no  certain  knowledge  of  the  build- 
ers of  megalithic  monuments,  227- 
230 

bones   of,    scarce,  worked    flints 

very  abundant,  231-235  ;  growth  of 
populations  in  Palneolithic  times, 
231-235  ;  the  extreme  North  more 
populous  then  than  now,  236  ;  more 
civilized  than  Lake  dwellings,  and 
megalithic  monuments  of  South, 
236  ;  all  the  continents  peopled, 
civilization  almost  identical,  240  ; 
signs  of  division  of  labor,  240  ;  of 
long  travel,  244-24S  ;  daily  life  of 
Stone  age,  248  ;  struggle  for  ex- 
istence, 249  ;  skulls  and  bones  with 
scars  and  flint  points  still  in  them, 
249-256  ;  early  attempts  at  surgery, 
252  ;  skill  in,  and  nursing,  256, 
257  ;  trepanation,  257-278  ;  a  pos- 
sible funeral  rite,  269  ;  still  prac- 
tised, 270 :  as  a  treatment  of  dis- 


eases, 271  ;  long  continuance  of 
practice,  272 

—  first  made  weapons,  then  fortifi- 
cations, 279  ;  Neolithic  enceintes, 
280-286  ;  of  Portugal,  293  ;  and  of 
Spain,  of  Stone,  Copper,  and  Bronze 
ages,  294  ;  iiiliahitcd  by  agricultur- 
ists, 295  ;  coarse  pottery,  grind- 
stones for  crushing  grain  and  bronze 
idols  from  cetati  de  pamentu  of 
Roumania,  296  ;  strongholds  of 
Mound-Builders  of  America,  297  ; 
intelligence  shown  in  choice  of 
sites,  297  ;  fortifications  a  proof  of 
combined  action,  308 

at  Santorin  (/Egean  Sea),  310  ; 

two  gold  rings  and  a  little  copper 
the  only  metals  found,  314  ;  ad- 
vanced civilization,  315;  solidly 
built  houses,  and  other  signs  of, 
315;  one  human  skull,  316  ;  gradual 
progress,  317  ;  Hill  of  Hissarlik  a 
witness  of,  319  ;  hunting  a  favorite 
pastime,  329  ;  pottery  of  infinite 
variety,  decoration  inferior,  330 ; 
figure  of  hippopotamus,  and  busts  of 
women  with  heads  of  owls,  331  ;  the 
swastika,  sacred  symbol  of  Aryan 
race,  found  in  all  parts  of  the  world, 
339-341;  proves  identity  of  origin,  341 

skeletons   of,    at    Spy   (Namur) 

with  implements  of  Mousterien 
type,  and  Quaternary  fauna,  344  ; 
two  in  Chauvaux  Cave,  345  ;  in 
Gendron  Cave  seventeen  skeletons, 
in  Duruthy  Cave  thirty,  with  Palaeo- 
lithic implements,  and  at  Baousse- 
Rousse,  345  ;  dead  buried  in  caves 
still  inhabited,  346  ;  openings  in 
dolmens  used  for  throwing  in  bones, 
when  separated  from  flesh,  346  ; 
successive  inhumations  in  dolmens, 
347  ;  bones  of  adults  colored  red  in 
Neolithic  Italy,  347  ;  in  Portugal, 
Russia,  Poland,  and  North  America, 
34S,    349  ;    earliest    tombs   on   the 


tNDEX. 


399 


Man,  prehistoric — Continued. 
hearth,  350  ;  modes  of  sepulture  of 
Neolithic  age,  351-354  ;  taves  and 
tombs  closed,  355  ;  urns  from  Italy 
imitating  human  dwellings,  355  ; 
forty  skeletons  at  Tours-sur-Mame, 
of  transition  period  between  Stone 
and  Bronze  age,  355,  356  ;  five 
human  bodies  in  goofl  preservation 
at  Floyd  (lovi^a)  of  very  low  grade, 
3 58  (see  also  "  Sepulture  ")  ;  crema- 
tion first  practised,  366  ;  continued 
side  by  side  with  burial,  368,  374  ; 
feasts  at  funerals,  375;  human  sacri- 
fices at  funerals,  376  ;  signs  of  be- 
lief in  immortality,  376  ;  sacred 
symbols,  bones  of  extinct  animals, 
and  hatchets,  377,  378  ;  cup-sculp- 
tures, 379  ;  legends  sacred  to,  381 

Mane-Lud  dolmen,  204 

Mantegazza, on  trepanation  in  P'eru,267 

Marconnieres  dolmen,  370 

Marne,  caves,  246-259 

funeral  pits,  355 

megalithic  monuments,  378 

Marsoulas  Cave,  92,  119 

Marzobotta,  360 

Massat,  92,  131 

Mastodon,  39,  57,  96 

Masts,  77 

Maupas,  201,  202 

Mayenfisch,  von,  on  pile  dwellings, 
148 

Mecklenburg,  megalithic  monuments 
in.  191  ;  crypts  in,  205  ;  contents 
of  dolmens,  216 

Megaceros,  86 

Megalithic  Monuments,  in  India,  29  ; 
in  Algeria,  32  ;  in  Tonga-Taboo, 
35,  36  ;  in  all  countries,  44,  45 

witnesses  of  the  remote  past,  74  ; 

tumuli  of  England  enclose  a  kist- 
vaen,  175  ;  mamoas  of  Portugal, 
175;  tumuli  in  Poland,  175;  Edwin- 
Harness  Mound  (Ohio),  176 

dolmens,    77  ;    of    Persia,    near 


Megalithic  Monuments — Continued. 
Mykense,  of  New  Grange  (Ireland) 
Arrayolos  (Portugal),  Hellstone 
(Dorsetshire),  Castle  Wellan  (Ire- 
land), and  Acora  (Peru),  178  ;  of 
Bekour-Noz,  in  the  Kouban  basin, 
and  coasts  of  Black  Sea,  of  Stone 
age,  179  ;  in  Yezo  (Japan)  and 
Puerto  Deseado  (Patagonia),  179  ; 
general  description  of,  180 

cromlechs  common  in    Algeria, 

Sweden,  Denmark,  180  ;  few  in 
France  and  Italy,  180  ;  at  Tyre,  in 
Persia,  Arabia,  and  between  Mour- 
zouk  and  Ghat,  181  ;  of  Anajapoura 
(Ceylon),  at  Peshawur,  in  Peru,  and 
Australia,  181;  atMyzora(Morocc()), 
181  ;  highest  development  of,  in 
Great  Britain,  182  ;  at  Salkeld 
(Cumberland),  Loch  Stemster (Caith- 
ness), Long  Meg  and  her  daughters 
(Westmoreland),  182  ;  of  Avebury, 
182, 183  ;  of  Stonehenge,  183,  184  ; 
of  Ireland,  of  Cornwall,  at  Upland 
(Gloucestershire),  185 

menhirsof  Brittany, 185;  Sweno's 

pillar  (Scotland),  in  memory  of  vic- 
tories, 185,  186  ;  in  France,  Cyprus, 
and  Yucatan,  186  ;  in  Egypt,  As- 
syria, Persia,  and  Mexico,  188 

alignments,  or  covered  avenues, 

called  t'jj^«a;«  by  Arabs,  188  ;  often 
built  beneath  masses  of  earth,  such 
near  Paris,  the  Gang  Graben  of  Den- 
mark similar,  188  ;  covered  avenues 
at  tumulus  of  Dessignac,  189 ;  at 
Cueva  de  Mengal  (Malaga),  at  crypt 
at  Pastora  (Seville),  at  Gavr'innis, 
and  the  Long  Barrows  at  West 
Kennet,  Littleton,  Nempnitt,  and 
Uley,  189,  190  ;  sepulchral  chamber 
of  oval  shape  in  island  of  Moen, 
190,  191  ;  megaliths  of  Mecklen- 
burg of  two  kinds,  191  ;  the  Graft e 
des Fe'esoiVxos&Vi(^&,  191  ;  Neolithic 
covered  avenue  of  Mureaux,  192 


400 


PRE/flSTORrc  PEOPLES. 


Megalithic  Monuments — Continued. 

different   forms   and    modes    of 

megalithic  monuments  found  in 
juxtaposition,  as  at  Mane-Lud  and 
at  Lestridion  (Finistere),  192  ;  in 
England  and  Moab  alignments  lead 
to  cromlechs,  193  ;  one  of  most 
important  monuments  at  Carnac, 
193  ;  in  Brittany,  194 

■ number  of,  incalculable,  194  ;  in 

France,  194  ;  the  Orkney  Islands, 
north  of  Scania,  and  in  Otranto, 
195  ;  kurganes  in  Russia,  195  ; 
Algeria  a  field  for  research,  195- 
198  ;  djedas  of,  198  ;  monuments  of 
Tunisia,  lg8  ;  tumuli  in  Syria,  198  ; 
great  numbers  in  Moab,  199  ;  meg- 
aliths in  India,  200  ;  legends  con- 
nected with  them,  201  ;  numerous 
at  Jellalabad,  Nagpore,  valley  of 
Cabul,  and  in  Madras  Presidencvi 
201 

are  either  tombs  or  in  honor  of 

the  dead,  201  ;  at  Mugen,  the 
Cabeco  d'Aruda  (Portugal),  at 
Monastier  (Lozere),  the  Mas  de 
I'Aveugle  (Garde),  and  La  Mouline 
(Charante),  skeletons  found,  201  ; 
at  Maupas  crypts  of  Neolithic  age, 
20  [,  202;  in  Morbihan  bodies  and 
cists,  202  ;  cremation  in  Finistere, 
202  ;  all  dolmens  tombs,  202,  203  ; 
crypts  in  Mecklenburg,  England, 
Wales,  Ireland,  Orkney  Islands, 
and  France,  205  ;  long  barrow  of 
Moustoir-Carnac,  205  ;  difficulties 
of  construction,  206,  207  ;  balanced 
stones  of  Martineand  Castle  Wellan, 
207  ;  granite  dolmens  carved  and 
engraved,  207-209  ;  orientation  of 
megaliths,  210  ;  dolmens  with 
circular  openings,  211-13 

of  Brittany,  relics  in,  214,  215  ; 

contents  of  other  dolmens  of  France, 
Mecklenburg,  and  Jersey,  216;  of 
England,  Spain,  and  Algeria,  217  ; 


gold  ornaments  found  in  France, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland,  217,  218; 
bronze  in  France  and  Algeria,  218  ; 
iron  rare  in  Europe  and  America, 
219  ;  stone,  bronze,  and  iron  at 
Carnac  and  Rocher,  219;  bronze 
and  iron  in  British  Isles,  219  ;  iron 
sword  inlaid  with  silver  in  cist  at 
Aspatria  (Cunil)erland),  220  ;  in 
cairn  of  Dowth  (Ireland)  iron 
knives  and  rings  and  copper  pins,  220 

to  do  honor  to  the  dead,  221  ; 

only  bones  of  Neolithic  animals  in 
them,  221  ;  erected  from  Stone  age 
to  present  day,  222  ;  discontinued 
in  France  and  England  in  8th  or 
9th  century,  in  Scotland  and  Scan- 
dinavia later,  223  ;  not  mentioned 
by  Roman  historians  of  Britain, 
Gaul,  or  Germany,  or  by  early 
French  writers,  224  ;  proofs  of  an- 
tiquity in  France  and  England,  224 

difficulty    of     ascertaining     by 

whom  built,  224  ;  megalithic  zones, 
225,  226  ;  dolmens  vary  in  construc- 
tion, 226  ;  all  of  one  general  type, 
227  ;  use  of  circular  openings  in, 
346  ;  Port-Blanc  dolmen,  347  ; 
megaliths  near  Constantine,  353  ; 
dolmen  of  Maconnieres,  370 ;  of 
Mont  St.  Michel  and  Tumiac,  371 

Meilgaard,  137 

Menhirs,  18,  180-188,  197,  199,  222  ; 
see  also  "  Megalithic  Monuments." 

Mentone,  345,  347 

Merovingian    rombs,    22,    264,    272^ 

349.  378 
Mesaticephalic  skull,  265 
Metallurgy,  161,  294,  315,  334 
Metals  unknown  to  prehistoric  Scan- 
dinavians, 13S,  143 
Meudon,  188 
Mexicans,  the,  22 

Mexico,  earthworks  in,  41  ;  barbarity 
of  sacrifices  in,  54  ;  polished  flints 
in,  87  ;  cromlechs  in,  188 


INDEX. 


401 


Michigan,  248 

Midjana,  megaliths  at,  197 

Millet,  158,  296,  315 

Milnk-Edwards,  on  birds  in  French 
caves,  49 

Minano,  pile  dwellings  of,  145 

Minerals  foreign  to  the  country  in 
which  found,  247 

Miners  and  mining,  28,  241,  242,  290 

Moab,  alignments  in,  193  ;  menhirs 
in,  199 

Mobile,  143 

Moen,  island  of,  igo,  191 

MoUusca.  in  pile-dwellings  of  Switzer- 
land, 60  ;  fish-hooks  of  RTytihts 
Californiiits  and  Haliotis  in  Cali- 
fornia, 63  ;  in  caves  of  France, 
fossil  and  recent  shells,  107  ; 
Cyprina  Islandica  in  French  cave, 
and  Nassa  nerita  at  Baousse-Rousse, 
108  ;  salt-water  shells  at  Oka 
(Russia),  scaliops,  oysters,  limpets, 
and  pectens  in  Brittany,  139,  140  ; 
shells  at  mouth  of  the  Somme,  140  ; 
oyster  shells  at  St.  Simon's  Island, 
141  ;  in  mound  near  St.  John  River, 
Mya,  Venus,  Pecten,  Buccimiin, 
?in(\.  Natica ,  141  ;  pearl  oyster  shells 
at  Chaleux,  Frontal,  and  Nuton 
caves,  at  Thayngen,  and  in  Italy, 
244  ;  arctic  marine  mollusca  in 
caves  of  Cro-Magnon,  Madeleine, 
Bize,  and  Solutre,  244  ;  fossil  shells 
of  cretaceous  strata.  South  of 
France,  244  ;  specimens  from  Isle 
of  Wight  at  Laugerie-Basse,  244  ; 
pearl  oysters  of  Indian  Ocean  in 
South  of  France,  244 

Monastier  (Lozere),  201 

MoNTAiGLON,  DE,  on  vitrification,  307 

Montesquieu-Avantes  Cave,  52 

Montgaudier  Cave,  132 

Monuments,  see  "  Megalithic  Monu- 
ments." 

Moor-fowl,  49,  138 

Mooseedorf,  64,  145 


Morbihan,    180,   194,   202,   209,   210, 

212,  213,  215,  260,  347 
Moreau,  369 
Morges,  Lake,  148 
Morocco,  cromlechs  in,  180 
Mortars,  for  crushing  grain,  34  ;  f  '. 

grinding  paint,  105,  106 
MoKTiLLET,  on  inhumation  at  Sohitn\ 

350 
Mother  Grundy's  Parlor^  122 
Mouinho-da-Moura,  292 
Mound-Builders,  3,  41,  297-299,  320 
Mouse,  157 

Moussa  (Shetland),  166 
Mousterien  period,  84,  132,  344 
Moustier  Cave,  48,  83,  84,  131 
Moustoir-Carnac,  205 
Mur  de  Barrez,  flint  quarries,  241,  242 
Mureaux,  192 
Mussels,  136 
Mya,  141 

MykeuK,  90,  178,  248,  338,  378 
Mytiliis  Califoruicus,  63 

Nabrigas  Cave  (Lozere),  10,  58,  99 

Noes  dolmen,  266 

Nagpore,  2or 

Nanetas  of  IJalearic  Islands,  170 

Nassa,  108 

Natal,  34 

Natica,  141 

Navigation,  69,  70 

Neanderthal  skull,  359 

Necklaces,  see  "Ornaments." 

Needles  of  bone,  with  eyes,  90  ;  in 
Lake  Stations,  145,  146 

Nelatox,  on  trepanation,  268 

Neolithic  period,  20,  31  ;  giant  animals 
died  out,  and  domestic  animals 
appeared,  86  ;  man  adopted  seden- 
tary life,  86  ;  weapons  of,  in  Mous- 
tier Cave,  and  rounded  stones,  88  ; 
pile  dwelling  of,  90  ;  civilization  of, 
94;  clothing  in,  104;  megaliths  of, 
191,  202,  222  ;  rapid  development 
of  commerce  in,   247  ;  trepanation 


402 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


Neolithic  period — Continued. 

in,  257-259,  261  ;  sepulchres  of, 
261,  262  ;  modes  of  sepulture  in, 
351.  356 

Nerita,  108,  log 

Neuchatel  Lake,  145 

Nevada,  39 

Newark  (America),  298,  299 

New  Grange  (Ireland),  178,  205,  218 

New  Guinea,  pile  dwellings  of,  145 

New  Zealand  a  portion  of  a  submerged 
continent,  35  ;  Stone  age  in,  35  ; 
worked  flints  from,  44 

Nicaragua,  jade  celts  and  ornaments 
in,  248 

Nile  valley,  implements  of  flint  and 
porphyry  in,  30 

Nogent-les-Vierges,  250 

NoRDENSKiOLD,  on  stone  weapons  of 
the  Tchoutchis,  22 

on  women  of,  103 

on  shell  heaps  at  Cape  North, 

140 

NoRDMANN,  on  bones  from  cave  near 
Odessa,  56 

Normandy,  enceintes  in,  2S3 

North,  the,  peopled  in  most  remote 
times,  24  ;  abundant  life  in,  367 

Northumberland,  megaliths  in,  209 

Norway,  boat  in  tumulus  in,  72  ;  vit- 
rified forts  in,  301 

Nuclei,  28,  246,  281 

Nurhags,  of  Sardinia,  165  ;  construc- 
tion of,  167,  168  ;  great  antiquity 
and  uncertain  origin  of,  169  ;  tombs 
side  by  side  with  them  of  uncertain 
date,  170 

Nuts,  151,  158 

Oars,  77 

Ogham,  222,  341 

Ogris,  the,  195 

Ohio,  mounds  of,  269,  357,  358 

Old  Fort  (Kentucky),  299,  300 

Oleron,  Isle  of,  218,  232 

Ord  Hill  of  Kissock,  302,  303 


Orkney  Islands,  dolmens  in,  180; 
megaliths  in,  195  ;  crypts  in,  205 ; 
vitrified  forts  in,  302 

Ornaments,  from  Wirzchow  Cave, 
amulets  and  fish  cut  in  ivory,  25  ; 
fringed  cloth  from  Lake  Stations  of 
Italy,  104  ;  fine  needles  for  (pos- 
sible) embroidery,  104  ;  love  of 
ornaments  a  natural  instinct,  106  ; 
cave-men  wore  fossil  coral,  beads 
of  clay,  teeth,  tusks,  fish-bones, 
and  belemnites  as  amulets,  106 ; 
necklace  of  bears'  and  lions'  teeth, 
106  ;  ivory  plaques  with  three  holes 
from  Cro-Magnon,  106 ;  delicate 
oval  discs  from  Kent's  Hole,  107  ; 
slices  of  jet  and  ivory  plaques  from 
Belgian  caves,  107  ;  bright  colored 
shells  from  French  caves,  necklace 
of  three  hundred,  107  ;  shellsbrought 
from  a  distance,  108  ;  necklaces  of 
nerites  and  limpets  in  Scotland, 
shells  used  to  fasten  clothes,  108  ; 
at  Baousse-Rousse  a  necklace, 
bracelet,  amulet,  garter,  and  net 
for  head  of  nerite  shells,  108,  109  ; 
beads  of  jet,  crystal,  gray  schist, 
amber,  and  hyaline  quartz,  also 
polished  balls  of  calx,  109  ;  neck- 
laces of  human  teeth,  109;  pendants 
of  human  bone,  no ;  staves  of 
office  of  antlers  engraved,  113-116  ; 
stafT  with  geometrical  designs  found 
with  Quaternary  fauna,  116  ;  beads 
and  other  ornaments  in  sepulchral 
caves,  135  ;  dolmens  carved  and 
engraved,  207-210 ;  amber  beads 
and  necklace  of  calaite,  and  ivory 
ring    from    dolmens    of    Brittany, 

214  ;  glass  beads  and  amber  bowls, 

215  ;  beads  of  blue  glass,  enamel, 
and  amber,  215  ;  gold  ornaments 
in  France,  Scotland,  and  Ireland, 
217,  218  ;  in  the  Caucasus,  blue 
glass  beads  and  bronze  rings,  219  ; 
at  Aspatria,  gold  buckle,  220 ;  in 


INDEX. 


403 


Ornaments — Continued, 

Posen,  silver  and  gold  ornaments, 
220 ;  stone  and  bronze  beads  in 
Lozere  caves,  258  ;  gold  ornaments 
in  great  variety  in  Troy,  337,  338  ; 
similar  ornaments  at  Mykense,  near 
Bologna,  in  Lake  dwellings,  and  in 
Colombia,  338  ;  necklace  of  bits  of 
limestone  from  Neolithic  funeral 
pit  at  Tours-sur-Marne,  356  ;  copper 
rings  and  shell  beads  in  mound  in 
Ohio,  358  ;  amljer  cup  in  rough 
plank  coffin  at  Hove,  364 

Orry's  Grave  (Isle  of  Man),  213 

Ors  (Isle  of  Oleron),  218,  232 

Ossuaries,  347,  354 

Osteitis  and  caries,  possible  treatment 
of,  271 

Ostrich,  234 

Otaheite,  36 

Otranto,  171,  195 

Otter,  138 

OuvAROFF,  on  Siberia,  28 

on  bone  spear,  66 

on  excavations  at  Oka  (Russia), 

138 

Ovibos  ?noschatns,  121 

Owl,  331 

Ox,  86,  156,  157,  217,  329 

Oyes  Cave,  251 

Oyster,  24,  136,  290 

Pachydermatous  mammals  of  North 
America,  39 

Palaeolithic  period,  20  ;  caves  of,  in 
Poland,  24  ;  worked  flints  of,  31  ; 
chipped  flints  of,  87  ;  an  ornamented 
bone  implement  of,  94  ;  pottery 
unknown  in,  100  ;  Scandinavia  not 
peopled  in,  137  ;  finds  of  human 
bones  in,  231,  232  ;  valley  of  the 
Seine  inhabited  in,  233  ;  workshop 
of>  237  ;  trepanation  in,  263  ;  see 
also  "Quaternary  period"  and 
"  Stone  age." 

Palestine,  Stone  age  in,  28 


Pallas,  on  kurganes  of  Russia,  195 

Papaver  sotn niferum,  151 

Paris,  covered  avenues  near,  188  ; 
environs  of,  rich  in  deposits,  233 

Park  Cwn  (Wales),  205 

Parma,  tcrremarcs  in,  159 

Partridge,  49 

Pastora  (Seville),  190 

Patagonia,  dolmens  in,  179 

Pears,  158 

Pearse,  on  tumulus  at  Nagpore,  177 

Peas,  158,  315 

Pecten,  140,  141 

Pedras  Jittas  of  Sardinia,  195 

Penguin,  138 

Penka,  on  Northern  origin  of  Euro- 
pean civilization,  366 

Perigord  Caves,  9,  104,  114,  246 

Persia,  dolmens  in,  178  ;  cromlechs 
in,  181,  188 

Peru,  cromlechs  in,  iSi  ;  trepanation 
in,  267 ;  sepulchre  in,  341  ;  em- 
balmed bodies  in,  364 

Peruvians,  the,  42 

Pesojis  de  fuseau,  160 

Petit-Morin    Caves,     134,     135,    251, 

354 
Pfahlbauten,  Palafittes,  147 
Phoca  grcvnlajidica,  116 
Piacenza,  159 
Picard  Cave,  92 
Picts"  houses,  or  Weems,  i6fi 
Pig,  156,  217 
Pigeon,  49 

PiGORiN,  on  mode  of  sepulture,  346 
Pile  dwellings,  26,  144,  145,  147-149, 

153,  159,  163,  287 
Pinus  picea,  150 
Pinus  sylvestris,  1 50 
Pitt-Rivers,  on  ancient  fortifications 

of  Sussex,  288 
Placard  Cave,  105,  107,  132 
Plouhennec,  tumulus  of,  346 
Ploiirotises,  202 
Plum,  158,  367 
Poisons,  92 


404 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


Poland,  caves  of,  24  ;   tumuli  in,  175  ; 

trepanation    in,    266  ;    burial    and 

cremation  in,  372 
POMEL,  on  man  and  the  cave-bear,  10 
Pomerania,  Lake  stations  of   153 
PoMMERuL,  on  rounded  stones,  88 
Pont-de-Bonn  (Namur),  282 
Poplar,  367 

Poppy,  Indian,  151,  158 
Porpoise,  138 
Portugal,   caves   in,    52  ;    mamoas  of, 

175  ;    dolmens    in,    17S  ;    atiias    in, 

179;    ci/anias  in,    292;    cup-stones 

in,  379 

Posen,  tumuli  in,  220 

Pottery,  hand-made,  34  ;  from  cliff 
dwellings,  41,  at  French  Exhibi- 
tion, 1878,  44;  of  Neolithic  period, 
51  ;  spoon  of  black  earthenware, 
94  ;  others  of  brown,  95  ;  pottery  of 
great  variety,  96-101  ;  most  ancient 
found  in  England,  142  ;  almost 
identical  in  Europe  and  America, 
143  ;  of  Lake  dwellings  of  Switzer- 
land, 146 ;  earthenware  spindle- 
whorls,  150  ;  little  iigures  and 
black  vases,  153  ;  terra-cotta  ware, 
\^(i\  fusa'ioles  in  terremares,  160; 
vases  with  handles  and  ornaments 
from  fondi,  162  ;  vases  from  dol- 
mens, 215  ;  ornamented  pottery 
from  Alt-Sanimit  2i6 ;  Neolithic 
vases,  216  ;  fragments  of  pottery  at 
West  Kennet,  with  tusks  of  extinct 
boars,  217  ;  glass  beads  in  Ireland, 
220 ;  funeral  vases  in  Posen,  and 
Prussia,  220 ;  pottery  hand-made  and 
mixed  with  crushed  shells,  285  ;  frag- 
ments at  Cissbury,  290  ;  terra-cotta 
vases  at  Santorin,  312-314  ;  coarse 
pottery  from  colonies  at  Hissarlik 
succeeding  the  Trojan,  324  ;  supe- 
rior in  first  town,  325  ;  ornamented 
with  flowers  and  fruit,  326  ;  vases 
of  great  size,  330  ;  jars,  basins,  and 
amphorce  used  as  funeral  urns,  362  ; 


jars   of    coarse    pottery    filled   with 

bones  at  Caithness,  372 
Potzrow,  2g2 
POUCHET,      on     hatchets     from     the 

Somme,  15 
Prestwich,     on     flints      from      th"; 

Somme,  14 
Prevot,  on  vitrification,  307 
Proust,     on    megaliths    of    France, 

195 
PRUNifeRE,   on  human   bones  bearing 

scars,  250 
on  skill  of  Neolithic  bone-setters, 

257 

on  trepanation,  257,  258 

on  implied  belief  in  future  life, 

275 

on    operation    on    the    forehead, 

277 

on    Neolithic    station    at    Grez, 

286 

on  sepulture  of  cave-men,  369 

Prussia,  funeral  vases,  silver  and  gold 
ornaments,  and  tumuli  in,  220 ; 
burial  and  cremation  in,  372 

PULLIGNY,  HE,  On  enceintcs  of  Nor- 
mandy, 283 

Pyrenean  valleys,   Lake    Stations   of, 

155 
Pyrenees,  the,  126 

Quaternary  period,  deposits  of,  lO ; 
of  the  Somme,  15  ;  in  South  Africa, 
34  ;  animal  life  in,  56  ;  mammals 
of,  66  ;  huge  animals  of,  80  ;  flint 
tools  and  vi'eapons  of,  90  ;  pottery 
unknown  in,  loi ;  great  cold  of, 
116;  animals  of,  116,  122;  depos- 
its of,  130  ;  floods  of,  131  ;  animals 
of,  extinct,  143,  156,  222  ;  existence 
of  man  in,  234  ;  trepanation  in, 
263  ;  see  also  "  Palceolithic  period  " 
and  "  Stone  age." 

Qqatrefages,  de,  on  Quaternary 
deposits  of  the  Somme,  15 

on  prehistoric  races,  45 


INDEX. 


405 


QUATREFAGES,    DK,    on    kitchen-mid- 

dings  facing  south,  137 
on  fortification  on  the  Nive,  285, 

286 

Races,  prehistoric,  42,  45 

Raspberry,  158 

Rat,  157 

Reggio,  162  ' 

Reinach,  on  sepulture,  350 

Reindeer,  47,  84,  85,  86,  132,  344 

Reindeer  period,  27,  35,  50,  63,  iii, 

113,  377 

Religious  rites  in  which  flint  knives 
were  used,  17,  18  ;  condemned  by 
church,  18,  19  ;  used  by  sorcerers 
in  England,  19  ;  liarbarity  of  sacri- 
fices in  Mexico,  54  ;  respect  for  the 
dead,  217  ;  offerings  in  tombs,  216- 
218  ;  portions  cut  from  the  skull 
after  death,  a  rite,  274  ;  see  also 
"  Sepulture." 

Resille,  108,  135 

Rhinoceros,  56,  gtj,  156 

incisivus,  11 

Mcrckii,  84 

tichorhinus,  84,  116,  344 

RiALLE,  DE,  on  monuments  of  Tunisia, 
198 

Ribandelle,  304 

Rifsenbcttcn,  191 

Rivatella,  162 

Robenhausen,  148 

Rochebertier,  124 

Roches  Moiiionriccs,  379 

Rodents,  48 

Rodmarden,  213 

Roe-deer,  217 

Roknia  (Algeria),  266 

Rondelks,    258,    259,    262,    263,    266, 

274,  275 
Roquemaure  Cave,  107 
Rosa,  onfondi,  162 
Rosmeur  (Finistere),  283 
Rossi,  de,  on  Pal?eolithic  workshop  at 

Ponte-Molle,  237 


Rouge,  de,  on  monuments  nf  Egypt, 
2 

Roumania,  earthworks  in,  294-296 

Round  towers  of  Ireland,  167 

Rounded  stones  of  granite  or  sand- 
stone, 88 

Rovesche,  373 

Ruches  de  Cremation,  371 

Rudders,  77 

Ruins  in  the  Transvaal,  35 

Run-Aour  (Finistere),  188 

Rundyssers,  180 

Runes,  2gi 

Russia,  dwellings  above  flood  line  in, 
137  ;  kitchen-middings  in,  13S  ; 
kurganes  of,  195  ;  va/la  in,  295 

Sacred  symbols,  339,  377 

Sahara,  desert  of,  30-32 

Saint-Acheul,  83,  233 

St.  Affrique  dolmen,  263 

St.  Andrew  (Winnipeg),  a  manufac- 
turing centre,  240 

St.  John  River,  141 

Saint-Martin-la-Riviere,  262 

Saint-Pierre-en-Chatre,  64 

St.  Quentin,  263 

St.  Simon's  Island,  141 

Salkeld  (Cumberland),  182 

Salzbourg,  290 

San  Ciro  Cave  (Palermo),  6 

San  Margarethan,  378 

Santa  Cruz,  island  of,  63 

Santandar  Caves,  27 

Santhenay  Cave,  131,  134 

Santorin,  Island  of,  134,  308-316 

Saporta,  de,  on  Northern  origin  of 
European  civilization,  366 

Sardinia,  nurhags  of,  165 

Saturnia  (Italy),  178 

Sauvagere,  on  megaliths  of  France, 
224 

Saw-liladed  knives,  29 

Scandinavia,  worked  flints  in,  44  ; 
human  bones  in,  45  ;  deep-sea  fish 
in  kitchen-middings  of,   60 ;    har- 


4o6 


PKKIIIS'J'ORIC  PEOPLES. 


Scaiuliiiaviii      ( 'onlinUiJ. 

poons  in,  66  ;  attempts  at  naviga- 
tion in,  6y  ;  polished  flints  in,  87  ; 
iu)i  peopled  in  Palaeolithic  times,  no 
domestic  animals,  137  ;  orientation 
of  houses  in,  137  ;  nomadic  life  in, 
138  ;  dead  buried  in  crouching  posi- 
tion, 351  ;  burial  and  cremation  in, 
372  ;  Elfcn  Stenars  of,  381 

Sceptre,  11 1 

Schaafhauscn,  vitrified  ramparts  at, 
301 

SchlakiH  //'(>//<■,  3<)i 

SciILlEMANN,  on  Hill  of  Ilissarlik 
and  Troy,  317-339.  34^ 

SciiMERl.lNt;,  researches  of,  near 
Liege,  10 

discovery  of  pottery  and  Mous- 

terien  flints  in  Engis  Cave,  97 

on  scarcity  of   human  bones  in 

Belgian  cr.ves,  231 

Schussenreid  Cave,  iii,  148 

Science,  i)rehistoric,  starting-point  of, 

4 

Scotland,  bronze  fish-hooks  in,  64  ; 
pirogue  from  ancient  bed  of  the 
Clyde,  70 ;  shell  necklaces  found 
in,  108  ;  Lake  stations  of,  154  ; 
crannoges  of,  164  ;  burghs  of,  165, 
166 ;  Pict£  houses  of,  166 ;  dol- 
mens in,  180 ;  gold  ornaments 
found  in,  217  ;  iron  in  monuments 
of,  219  ;  megalithic  monuments  dis- 
continued in,  223  ;  vitrified  forts  in, 
301-303  ;  burial  and  cremation  in, 
372  ;  cup-sculptures  on  menhirs  iu, 
380 

Seal,  116,  138 

Sentenheim  Cave,  56 

Sepolture  dei  Giganti,  of  Sardinia,  170 

Sepulchral  caves,  objects  found  in, 
134.  1^35.  246  ;  human  remains  in 
UHomme  Mart  Cave,  and  a  cave 
at  Nogent-les-Vierges,  250  ;  in- 
humation in  caves  of  Roquet  and 
VHomme  JSIort,  370 


Sepulchral  iliambers,  or  crypls,  188- 
192,   205,  261,  262 

mounds   in    America,    93,    357, 

374;    see  also  "Megalithic   Monu- 
ments" and  "  Tombs" 

Sepulchre,  Neolithic,  at  Crecy-sur- 
Morin,  261  ;  and  at  Dampont 
(Dieppe),  262 

Sepulture,  similarity  of,  at  Solutre 
and  in  Merovingian  times,  360  ; 
stone  chests  for  sepulture,  36*) ; 
earthenware  jars  used  by  ancient 
Iberians,  Chaldeans,  W.  coast  of 
Malabar,  in  Thracia,  and  at  iroy, 
361  ;  similar  custom  in  Peru,  Mex- 
ico, and  on  shores  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, 362  ;  trunks  of  trees  used  as 
coffins  at  Apremont,  Ilallstadt,  in 
the  cairns  of  Scania,  at  Gristhorpe, 
and  Hove,  362,  364  ;  ancient  Cale- 
donians sewed  up  their  dead  in 
skins,  364  ;  embalming  in  Tene- 
riffe,  Eirypt,  and  Peru,  364  ;  burial 
and  cremation  proceeded  side  by 
side  all  over  Europe,  368-378 ; 
burial  customs,  373,  374  ;  mounds 
of  Ohio  and  Illinois,  374  ;  crema- 
tion still  practised  by  savages  of 
Alaska,  California,  and  Florida, 
with  other  strange  customs,  374  ; 
feasts  of  death,  375  ;  human  sacri- 
fices in  honor  of  dead,  376  ;  belief 
in  immortality  by  cave-men,  376  ; 
bones  of  extinct  animals  venerated 
in  succeeding  epochs,  377  ;  flint 
hatchets  intentionally  broken  in 
tombs  of  Bronze  age,  377 

Settle  (Yorkshire),  66 

Sheep,  86,  156,  217,  329 

Shell-heaps  of  America,  40,  140  ;  at 
St.  Simon's  Island  (Georgia),  near 
St.  John  River,  141,  and  in  Florida 
and  Alabama,  142  ;  in  California 
and  at  Mobile,  143  ;  at  Hill  of  His- 
sarlik,  322,  329  ;  see  also  "  Kitchen- 
I       middings." 


INDEX. 


40; 


Shells  of  Mytilns    Californicus   and 

Haliotes  made  into  fish-hooks,  63  ; 

necklaces  of  A^assa  and  Nerita,  108  ; 

pendants  of   scales  of  unio   shells, 

no ;     see    also    "  Mollusca,"    and 

'*  Shell-heaps" 
Siberia,  flints  in,  28  ;  Stone  age  in, 

28  ;    mammotli   in,   57  ;  prehistoric 

civilization  of,  236 
Silver  ornaments,  220  ;  vase,  337 
Solutre  Cave,  57,  58,  85,  98,  108,  112, 

232,  244,  349,  350,  360 
Solutreen  period,  85,  87,  132 
Somme,  the,  bones  and  flints  found 

near,    11,   14  ;    kitchen-midding   at 

mouth  of,  140 
Sordes  Cave,  87,  106,  249,  345 
Spain,  pottery  in,  97  ;  circular  open- 
ings in  dolmens  in,  211;  prehistoric 

stations  in,  294 
Spienncs,  241,  242 
Spindle-whorls,     2S,     150,     sec    also 

"  Fusa'ioks"  and  "  Whorls." 
Spring,  on  human  bones  at  Chauvaux, 

49 

Spy  Cave  (Namur),  97,  105,  343,  344 

Squier,  on  fortifications  at  Old  Fort 
(Kentucky),  299 

Stag,  47,  137,  156,  157 

Staves  of  office,  111-116 

Stazzona  of  Corsico,  179' 

SxEENSTRUP,  on  kitchen-middings,i35 

Stendos  of  Sweden,  179 

Stone  age,  19  ;  not  a  fixed  period,  23  ; 
in  Western  Europe,  27  ;  in  Pales- 
tine, 28  ;  in  Algeria,  32  ;  in  Tunisia, 
33  ;  cannibalism  in,  51  ;  human 
bones  of,  52  ;  Lake  stations  of,  68  ; 
boats  of,  71  ;  ornaments  of,  109  ; 
staves  of  office,  113,  116;  art  of, 
126  ;  Lake  dwellings  of,  147,  149  ; 
monuments  of,  169  ;  mode  of  life 
in,  248  ;  places  of  refuge  in,  279  ; 
successive  Stone  ages,  294,  see  also 
*'  Neolithic  period,"  and  "  Quater- 
nary period." 


Stonehenge,  183,  185,  254 

Store -houses  for  grain,  158,  295 

Sureau  Cave  (Belgium),  47 

Surgery,  early  attempts  at,  252,  256, 
271,  see  also  "  Trepanation." 

Swan,  49,  329 

Siuastika,  339-341 

Sweden,  bronze  fish-hooks  in,  64  ; 
cromlechs  in,  180  ;  alignments  in, 
188  ;  dolmens  with  circular  open- 
ings in,  211 

Sweno's  pillar  (Scotland),  185 

Switzerland,  Lake  Stations  of,  remains 
of  fish  in,  5o  ;  bronze  fish-hooks, 
64  ;  harpoons  at  Concise,  65  ;  of 
Stone  and  Bronze  ages,  67,  68  ; 
boats  used  in,  68,  69,  74;  discovery 
of,  144  ;  of  three  periods,  145  ; 
construction  of,  147-149 

Lake  fauna  of,  156,  157  ;  forti- 
fied village  in,  287,  288  ;  cup-stones 

ill.  379 
Sydney,  36 
Syria,  tumuli  in,  198 

Talayoti  of  Balearic  Islands,  165,  170 

Tantama  mai-ca  of  Peru,  355 

Tatooing  in  early  times,  104  ;  red 
chalk,  red  iron  ore,  and  a  fine  red 
powder,  also  a  pebble  used  to  grind 
it,  found  in  France,  105  ;  fragments 
of  ochre,  manganese,  red  chalk,  and 
black  lead  frequent,  also  hollowed 
stones  in  which  to  crush  them,  106  ; 
an  engraving  of  a  tatooed  man,  on 
a  bone,  106 

Taylor,  on  megaliths  of  India,  200 

Tchoudes,  the,  195 

Temples,  rock  hewn,  2  ;  in  America, 
40,  42  ;  at  Hissarlik,  320,  324 

Tench,  60 

Terremares,  of  Italy,  construction  of, 

159  ;  bronze  objects  found  in  them, 

160  ;  fusai'oles,  uncertain  use  of, 
160  ;  at  Castione  terremares  in  arti- 
ficially hollowed   basins,  160  ;  un- 


4o8 


PREIIISTOKIC  PEOPLES. 


Tcrremares —  Con  tin  tied. 

certain  origin  of  terremarecolli,  l6o ; 

terremarcs  at   Toszig  in   Hungary, 

l6i  ;  fortified  icrretnarrs,  286 
Thayngen  Cave   (Belgium),   48,   107, 

114,  120,  233,  244 
Therasia,  Island  of,  prehistoric  houses 

under     volcanic    ashes    and    tufa, 

310 
Thetford,  Lake  Station,  154 
Thrush,  49 
T/iunt/i-r-stoiifs,  17,  34,  see  also  "  Ce- 

rainiia.^' 
Thuot,  on  vitrification,  307 
Thurmam,  on  burials  in  long  barrows, 

254 

Tiger,  56 

Toltecs,  the,  42 

Tombs,  in  Sardinia,  170;  kurganes  of 
Russia,  195  ;  megalithic  monuments 
either  tombs  or  in  honor  of  the  dead, 
201  ;  all  dolmens  tombs,  202,  203, 
246  ;  burial  of  chiefs  in  dolmens, 
258  ;  tombs  at  Triipschutz  (Poland), 
266 ;  at  Spy  (Namur),  344  ;  at 
Chauvaux,  Gendron,  and  Duruthy, 
345  ;  at  Baousse-Rousse,  345,  346  ; 
in  Italy,  Sicily,  Belgium,  the  Pyre- 
nees, and  in  Brittany,  and  Long 
Barrows  of  England,  346  ;  Port- 
Blanc  dolmen  (Morbihan)  and 
Grand  Compans  (Luzarches),  347  ; 
cave  of  Stone  age  near  Rome,  347  ; 
sepulchre  at  Solutre,  349  ;  at 
Schwann  (Mecklenburg),  Oxevalla 
(East  Gothland),  Vence  Cave  ( Alpes- 
Maritimes),  351  ;  dolmens  of  Avey- 
ron,  351  ;  tombs  at  ]\Iane-Lud. 
Luzarches,  Cape  Blanc-Nez,  and 
Equehen,  352  ;  Cravanche  Cave 
(Belfort),  353  ;  at  Aurignac,  Bruni- 
quel,  Frontal  Cave,  and  caves  of 
L' Homme  Mort,  354  ;  Tantatna 
Marca,  of  Peru,  354  ;  funeral  pits 
of  bottle  shape  at  Tour.s-sur-Marne, 
355 


Tombs  of  transition  pericxl  Letween 
Stone  and  Bronze  ages,  356  ;  others 
of  later  date  in  Italy,  356  ;  Aymaras 
of  Bolivia  buried  beneath  megalithic 
monuments  resembling  dolmens,  or 
in  chidpas,  357  ;  mounds  of  Ohio 
cover  sepulchres,  357,  358  ;  remark- 
able discovery  at  Floyd  (Iowa),  358  ; 
inhumation,  370  ;  first  traces  of 
cremation,  370,  371  ;  beneath  cairn 
at  Caithness  large  jars,  at  Blendowo 
(Poland)  an  urn  filled  with  burnt 
bones,  372  ;  necropolis  of  Ilallstadt 
(Bohemia)  of  Bronze  age,  373 

ToPlNARD,  on  trepanation,  272 

Top-O-Hoth  (Aberdeen),  302 

Torquay,  14 

Toszig  (Hungary),  161 

TOURNAL,  researches  by,  near  Nar- 
bonne,  10 

Tours-sur-Marne,  355 

Trepanation,  early  practice  of,  dis- 
covered, 257  ;  examples,  258-268  ; 
a  funeral  rite,  269,  270  ;  North 
American  instances  posthumous, 
270  ;  possible  reason  for  practice  as 
treatment  of  diseases,  271;  examples 
from  early  Neolithic  to  Merovingian 
times,  272  ;  subjects  operated  on 
young,  273  ;  a  religious  rite,  274, 
275  ;  modes  of  operation,  276 ; 
spoken  of  by  ancient  historians, 
277  ;  still  practised,  277 

Tritictitn  vulgar e  antiquarum,  15 1 

vulgare  hiberninn ,  151 

Trou   d'Argent   Cave  (Basses-Alpes), 

253 
Trout,  60 

Troy,  134,  317-320,  324-338,  361 
Troyox,  on  crannoges  of  Scotland,  164 
T7-uddhi  and  specchie,  of  Otranto,  171 
Tumuli,  45,  175,  176,  188,  197,  ig8, 

201-203,  295,  see  also  *'  Tombs." 
Tunisia,  workshops  of,  33 ;  megalithic 

monuments  in,  I9S 
Turtle,  60,  13S 


INDEX. 


409 


Turtle  Mound,  near  Smyrna  (America), 

142 
Tygelso  (Scandinavia),  255 

UjFALVY,   researches  Ly,   in   Siberia, 

27 
Uley  (Gloucestershire),  190,  205,  254 
Upland,  185 
Urstis  spelcnis,  48,  59,  99 

Valla  of  Roumania,  295 

Varano,  ten-emare  of,  161 

Vaureal,  250 

Vegetable  products  used  in  Lake 
dwellings,  comb  of  yew  wood,  pile 
dwellings  at  Lagozza  made  of  silver 
birch,  pines,  and  larch,  150  ;  prob- 
ably a  vegetarian  settlement,  no 
remains  of  animals,  but  two  kinds 
of  corn,  mosses,  ferns,  flax,  the 
Indian  poppy,  acorns,  nuts,  and 
apples,  151;  in  Swiss  Lake  Stations, 
corn,  millet,  peas,  poppy-heads, 
nuts,  plums,  raspberries,  and  dried 
apples  and  pears,  158  ;  from  Cor- 
taillod,  barley,  cherry-stones,  acorns, 
and  beech-nuts,  158  ;  at  Laybach, 
water-chestnuts,  158  ;  from  some 
places  loaves  of  bread,  159  ;  corn, 
beans,  vines,  and  various  fruits 
cultivated  by  dwellers  in  terremarcs, 
160 ;  stores  of  grain  in  fortified 
camps  of  Spain,  295  ;  stores  of 
millet  in  cetati  de pamentu  of  Rou- 
mania, 296  ;  in  island  of  Santorin 
barley,  millet,  lentils,  peas,  cori- 
ander, and  anise,  315;  wheat  known 
in  Troy,  329  ;  lignites  of  Iceland 
formed  of  tulip,  plantain,  and  nut- 
trees,  366  ;  in  Spitzberg  the  beech, 
poplar,  magnolia,  plum,  sequoia, 
and  numerous  coniferous  trees,  167  ; 
in  Banks,  Grinnell,  and  Francis 
Joseph's  Lands  the  cypress,  poplar, 
silver-pine,  and  birch,  in  every 
stage  of  growth,  367 


Vence  Cave  (Alpes-Maritimes),  351 
Venezuela,  145 
Vetius,  141 
Vezere  Cave,  59,  134 
Vilanova,  360 
Villevenard  Cave,  251 
Villers-Saint-Sepulchre  (Oise),  212 
ViRCHOW,     on     kitchen-midding     at 
Lake  Burtneek,  I'^g 

on  age  of  I,ake  stations,  154 

on  trepanation,  266 

on  vitrified  forts,  301 

on  Hill  of  Ilissarlik,  319 

on  Bronze  age  in  Troy,  334 

Vitrified  forts,  see  ^'Enceitites." 
Vivarais  Cave,  252 
Volcanic  eruption  in  /I<;gean  Sea,  308 
Vosges  Mountains,  enceinte  on,  283 

Wading  birds,  140 

Wales,  caves  in,  130  ;  crypts  in,  205 

Wankel,  on  deposit  at  Prerau 
(Olmutz),  253 

on  trepanation,  265,  272 

Water-chestnuts,  158 

Watsch,  373 

Weapons  and  tools  of  earliest  man, 
4  ;  rock  hatchets  from  Capri,  5  ; 
human  origin  of  worked-stones 
recognized,  6,  7  ;  worked  flints  at 
Hoxne  (Suffolk),  9  ;  stone  weapons 
in  Perigord,  9  ;  v/orked  flints  near 
Narbonne,  10  ;  near  Liege,  and 
Abbeville,  and  at  Amiens,  11  ;  at 
Torquay,  and  from  the  Somme,  14, 
15  ;  universally  believed  to  be  of 
supernatural  origin,  15-17 ;  stone 
weapons  still  used,  22  ;  thousands 
of  worked  flints  in  France,  23 ; 
crescent-shaped  flints  in  Crimea, 
24  ;  implements  of  schist  and  slate 
in  Russia  and  Finland,  24  ;  in 
kitchen-middlngs  of  Denmark, 
knives  and  hatchets  of  stone,  horn, 
and  bone,  24  ;  in  Wirzchow  Cave 
amulets,  fish  cut  in  ivory,  and  four 


4IO 


PREHISTORIC  PEOPLES. 


Weapons — Continued. 

thousand  stone  objects,  25  ;  flint 
tools  and  bone  spatuloe  at  Ojcow,  in 
many  Lake  stations  none  but  stone 
implements,  25  ;  flint  weapons  in 
Italy,  26  ;  in  Portugal,  27  ;  worked 
bones  in  S])ain,  27  ;  serpentine 
hatchets  and  wedges  from  Siberia, 
27,  28  ;  hammers,  hatchets,  pestles, 
and  spindle-whorls  from  Ural  Moun- 
tains, flints  from  Nahr  el  Kelb, 
Lebanon,  and  Sinai,  28  ;  flint 
weapons  from  Japan,  29  ;  worked 
agates,  ancient  javelin  heads,  in 
basalt  and  quartz,  from  Godavery, 
saw-bladed  knives  from  Isle  of 
Melas,  and  stone  implements  from 
Northwest  India,  29 

— —  Stone  age  in  Africa,  30  ;  series 
of  stone  weapons  and  implements 
in  Boulak  Museum,  31  ;  no  bones 
with  flints  of  Lower  Egypt,  31  ; 
worked  stones  in  Algeria,  32  ;  stone 
objects  and  workshops  in  Tunisia, 
and  worked  flints  in  Morocco,  33  ; 
stone  hatchets  in  Southern  Africa, 
roughly-hewn  flints,  arrow-heads, 
mortars  for  crushing  grain,  at  Natal, 
stone  weapons  of  Cliff  Dwellers,  41; 
in  all  countries,  worked  flints,  43, 

44 

construction   and   materials   of, 

hatchets,  wedges,  and  hammers  of 
jade,  fibrolite,  and  basalt,  sharp- 
pointed  and  cutting  tools  of  quartz, 
jaspar,  agate,  and  obsidian,  81  ; 
Moustier  flints  almond-shaped  and 
pointed,  83  ;  Chelleen  type  abun- 
dant in  France  and  England,  found 
in  Italy,  Spain,  Algeria,  Hindostan, 
and  America,  83,  84  ;  JNIousterien 
epoch  more  varied  forms,  84 ;  Solu- 
treen  period  stalked  arrow-head, 
and  more  elegant  forms,  85  ;  Made- 
leine period  great  variety  of  shapes 
and  materials,  85  ;  Neolithic  period 


polished  weapons  and  tools,  86 » 
fine  specimens  from  Scandinavia, 
Brittany,  and  Mexico,  87  ;  rounded 
stones  the  weapons  peculiar  to 
Neolithic  period,  88  ;  flint  arrcrws 
triangular,  or  oval,  go  ;  a  bow  from 
pile  dwelling,  Robenhausen,  and 
one  from  Lutz,  90  ;  bone  and  horn 
implements,  90;  invention  of  barbs, 
90  ;  bevelled  arrow,  92  ;  ])ossible 
use  of  poison,  92  ;  needles  with 
eyes,  barbed  arrows,  bodkins,  and 
amulets  of  bone,  92,  93  ;  numbers 
of  bone  implements  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, Madisonville  (Ohio),  and  in 
kitchen-middings  of  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  coasts,  93,  94  ;  processes  of 
cave-men  simple.  Neolithic  prog- 
ress, 94 ;  earthenware  spoons  in 
Germany  and  Italy,  94  ;  narrow 
spoons  of  bone  and  horn,  95  ;  in 
Spain  Neolithic  implements  of 
dorite  and  serpentine,  97  ;  mc rk- 
shops  with  highly  polished  hatchets, 

97 

in  sepulchral  caves,   135  ;  tools 

with  horn  handles  from  Swiss  Lake 
Stations,  146  ;  polished  stone  imple- 
ments, arrows  with  transverse  cut- 
ting edges,  earthenware  spindle- 
whorls,  and  bone  combs  from 
Lagozza,  150  ;  lozenge-shaped 
worked  flints  from  fondi,  162  ;  un- 
polished flints  and  quartz  wedge 
from  hut  in  Donegal,  164  ;  at  Moen 
tomb  a  flint  hatchet,  balls  of  amber, 
and  vases,  191  ;  tools  of  quartzite, 
granite,  schist,  and  diorite  in  align- 
ments of  Brittany,  194  ;  polishing 
stone  and  cup-stones  from  megaliths 
of  France,  194  ;  hatchets  of  quartz- 
ite, fibrolite,  diorite,  nephrite,  and 
jadeite  from  Brittany,  214  ;  hatchets 
and  celts  of  foreign  stone,  215 ; 
polished  stone  weapons  from  West 
Gothland,  217  ;  iron  sword,  inlaid 


INDEX. 


411 


Weapon  s —  Contm  tied. 

with  silver,  fragments  of  shield  and 
battle  axe,  and  iron  bridle-bit  from 
Aspatria  (Cumberland),  220  \  in 
Ireland,  iron  knives  and  rings, 
copper  pins,  and  a  great  number  of 
bone  implements,  220  ;  liatchets 
vary  in  different  districts,  227 

immense   numbers    of,    231  ;  at 

Solutre  4,000  flints,  at  Ors  8,000 
objects,  232  ;  in  Thayngen  Cave 
12,000  chipped  stones,  in  caves  of 
Belgium  80,000,  at  Grez  60,000 
worked  stones,  and  arrows  of  every 
known  type,  233  ;  environs  of  Paris 
rich  in  deposits,  233  ;  also  Ireland, 
Denmark,    Algeria,    and   America, 

234  ;     flints     of    Grand-Pressigny, 

235  ;  caches,  235  ;  bronze  hatchets, 
daggers,  andbridle-bits  from  Siberia, 

236  ;  from  Concise  knives,  stilettos, 
arrow-heads,  and  chisels  of  boars' 
tusks,  237 ;  at  St.  Julien-du-Saut 
stone  implements  of  every  epoch, 
238  {see  "Workshops");  polishers 
at  Loing  (Nemours),  238  ;  mining 
implements,  241,  243  ;  in  France 
implements  of  rock  foreign  to  the 
localities,  246  ;  hatchets  and  nuclei 
from  Pressigny  le  Grand,  in  bed  of 
the  Seine,  in  Brittany  on  banks  of 
the  Meuse,  and  in  Scotland,  246  ; 
pick-hammers  from  Lake  of  Bienne, 
255  ;  beautiful  darts  and  polished 
boars'  tusks  from  Lozere  Cave,  258  ; 
hatchets  of  coralline  limestone,  jade, 
fibrolite,  and  serpentine,  flint  knives, 
arrows  feathered  or  stalked,  from 
Saint-Martin-la-Riviere,  262  ;  mar- 
row spoon  and  button  from  Lake 
Station,  Switzerland,  288  ;  weapons 
of  Mousterien  type  at  Cissbury,  also 
wooden  picks,  2go  ;  similar  picks  in 
copper  mines  of  Asturias,  saltmines 
of  Salzburg,  and  petroleum  well. 
United  States,  200  ;  from  Roumania 


grindstones  for  crushing  grain,  296  ; 
from  Santorin  (/Egean  Sea)  troughs 
for  crushed  grain,  lava  discs  used  in 
weaving,  lava  weights,  flint  arrow- 
head and  saw,  obsidian  arrows  and 
knives,  and  small  copper  saw,  314  ; 
stone  implements  from  3d,  4th,  and 
5th  colonies  of  Hill  of  Hissarlik, 
322  ;  stone  and  Ijronze  implements 
from  Troy,  324  ;  celts  and  saws  of 
rock,  with  handles  of  wood  or  bone, 
awls  and  pins  of  bone  and  ivory, 
326  ;  hsematite  and  diorite  projec- 
tiles, 334  ;  Bronze  age  in  Troy, 
spits  and  nails  of  copper,  335  ; 
metal  shields,  vases,  and  dishes, 
336  ;  fiisa'ioles,  construction  of,  339 

■  from  funeral  pits  at  Tours-sur- 

Marne,  355,  356  ;  celts  and  hatchets 
as  amulets,  377  ;  flint  hatchets  in- 
tentionally broken  a  funeral  rite, 
377  »  votive  hatchets  beneath  dol- 
mens, 37S  ;  hatchets  engraved  on 
megaliths,  378 

Weaving,  314 

Webster,  on  sepulchral  mound  at 
Floyd  (Iowa),  358 

Weisgerber,  on  Algerian  megaliths, 

197 

West  Kennet,  190,  216,  217,  254 

Whistles,  112 

Whittlesey  (America),  299 

Whorles  of  flint,  28  ;  of  earthenware, 
150  ;  see  also  "  Fusa'ioles  " 

Wiltshire,  dolmens  with  circular  open- 
ings, 213 

Wirzchow  Cave,  25 

Wolf,  47 

Wooden  picks,  290 

Workshops  of  Stone  age  in  Tunisia, 
33  ;  at  Argecilla,  96,  97  ;  in  Al- 
geria, 197  ;  at  Wargla  (Algeria), 
234  ;  at  Grand-Pressigny,  235  ;  on 
shores  of  the  Bay  of  Kiel,  and  in 
other  places,  236  ;  at  Spiennes, 
Hoxne,      Brandon,      Bellaria,     and 


412 


PRRHJS'JORIC  PEOPLES. 


Workshops —  Continued. 

Rome,  236,  237  ;  Concise  a  manu- 
facturing centre,  237  ;  manufacto- 
ries of  France,  238  ;  of  Algeria, 
Asia  Minor,  and  America.  240 ;  at 
flint  quarries  at  Spiennes,  Brandon, 
and  Mur  Barrcz,  241-243  ;  of  Neo- 
lithic date,  244  ;  camp  at  Cissbury. 
290;  in  Spain  workshops  of  metal- 
lurgists, 295 

WoKSAAK,  on  age  of   shell   heaps  of 
America,  143 


Written  characters  at  Cissbury,  29I 
WuKMHRAND,    on    Lake    Stations   of 

Austria  and   Hungary,  151 
Wyldk,  on  Irish  crannoges,  163 

Yenesei,  the,  195,  236  ;  valleys  of,  28 
Yezo  (Japan),  dolmens  of,  179 
Yucatan,  cromlechs  of,  186  ;  temples 
of,  341 

Zalinow  (I'osen),  292 
Zeedyck,  282 


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